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South China Sea: Philippines doesn’t want war but will stand up to China’s ‘bullying’, defence chief says
- The Philippines will ‘stand its ground’, especially in light of China’s recent actions in the resource-rich South China Sea, said its defence chief
- Philippine lawmakers also rallied behind a proposal to funnel more money into law enforcement agencies tasked with protecting the country’s territorial waters
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The Philippines’ defence chief has compared China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea to that of a schoolyard bully, in comments a maritime security observer said signalled a hardening of views towards Beijing across Manila’s political establishment.
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In an interview with CNN published on Friday, Philippine Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro Jnr said his nation and the world had to stand up to what he said was Beijing’s territorial expansion in the South China Sea.
His remarks follow weeks of tensions between the neighbours that were rekindled following an August incident where China deployed water cannons at Philippine vessels resupplying the BRP Sierre Madre, a grounded Philippine vessel at the Second Thomas Shoal used by the Southeast Asian country as a makeshift base.
“I cannot think of any clearer case of bullying than this,” he said in the interview, referring in general to Beijing’s activities in the resource-rich South China Sea.
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Why the South China Sea dispute remains one of the region’s most pressing issues
Why the South China Sea dispute remains one of the region’s most pressing issues
Teodoro added that there were concerns about a possible escalation “because of the dangerous and reckless manoeuvring of Chinese vessels”.
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