South China Sea: Philippines’ Marcos ‘horrified’ by Xi-Duterte ‘gentleman’s agreement’ for status quo in disputed waters
- Marcos said his government isn’t aware of any agreement with China, and were not briefed by his predecessor about it when he came into office in 2022
- Duterte’s ex-spokesman said the Philippines entered a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with China, that bars Manila from sending materials to a ship in disputed waters
“If that agreement says we need to seek permission from another country to be able to do something within our own territory, it would probably be difficult to honour that agreement,” Marcos told reporters on Wednesday.
Duterte-Xi allegedly made ‘gentleman’s agreement’ for status quo in disputed sea
Marcos said his government isn’t aware of any record of the agreement, and that they were not briefed about it when he came into office in 2022. The administration is talking to former officials during Duterte’s term about the matter, but Marcos said, “we still haven’t gotten a straight answer.”
How Philippines’ domestic politics can affect South China Sea tensions
There is likely to be an agreement among the three countries “in terms of maintaining security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” Marcos said. The Philippine leader will also have bilateral talks with Biden on the sidelines of the summit to continue discussions on strengthening further the alliance between Manila and Washington, he said.