MANILA, FILIPINA –
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Saturday (18/2), said the use of a military-type laser by the Chinese coastguard that blinded some crew members of a Filipino patrol boat in the disputed South China Sea, was not enough to make him enter into a joint defense agreement with the United States. US).
But he warned that such Chinese aggression must stop
In a press conference, Marcos Jr. said he had warned the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines about escalating aggression and incursions into Philippine waters by China’s coast guard, as well as the Navy and government-backed civilian fishing fleets, in clear violation of an agreement struck with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.
“Despite the fact that it was a military-type laser aimed at our coast guard, I don’t think that was enough to get us into a Mutual Defense Agreement,” said Marcos Jr. in the first public remarks about the incident on Feb. 6 involving two Chinese and Filipino coast guard vessels near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.
In response to journalists’ questions, Marcos Jr. said he was concerned that the move to reactivate the 1951 treaty would escalate tensions in the region.
Marcos Jr. spoke to reporters in Baguio, a northern resort town. The Philippine president was there to deliver a speech to cadets and alumni of the Philippine Military Academy. In his speech, he reaffirmed his determination to defend the country’s territory amid a renewed territorial row with China.
Like his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos Jr. has taken steps to maintain friendly relations with Beijing. Early last month he held a meeting with Xi in Beijing to improve ties and discuss territorial disputes in waters also claimed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei Darussalam.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, placing it against other claimants, and separately from the US. The US does not claim the disputed waters, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets to patrol the waters, while promoting freedom of movement and challenging China’s territorial claims.
Source: VOA Indonesia
