Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. | Photograph credit score: AP
The Philippines “can not again down” on territorial disputes, President Ferdinand Marcos mentioned on Monday, following a sequence of escalating clashes with Beijing within the South China Sea.
Manila is locked in a long-running territorial dispute with Beijing over elements of the strategic waterway by which trillions of {dollars} in commerce passes yearly.
With out mentioning China, Marcos mentioned the Philippines will proceed “to search out methods to cut back tensions within the disputed areas… with out compromising our place or our ideas.” “The Philippines can not give in. The Philippines can not waver,” Marcos mentioned in his annual State of the Nation handle to Congress.
His feedback got here after the Philippines and China agreed to a “provisional association” for resupply missions to Philippine troops stationed at Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the main target of violent clashes in latest months.
Beijing claims nearly the entire South China Sea.
Ties with China
Philippines’ relations with China have been turbulent since Marcos took workplace in 2022 and vowed to defend his nation’s claims to the South China Sea.
A sequence of clashes between Philippine and Chinese language ships on disputed reefs have fueled fears of a battle that might drag in america due to its mutual protection treaty with Manila.
