‘Someone will press a trigger’: Duterte says China’s claim to disputed islands’ airspace ‘is wrong’ and could be ‘flashpoint’ for conflict

The Philippine president said on Tuesday that China’s claim to airspace above newly built islands and surrounding waters in the disputed South China Sea “is wrong” and that Beijing’s demands that others leave those areas could become a “flashpoint” for conflict.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks in a speech to an audience that included the American ambassador and other foreign guests were a rare public criticism of China, which he has refused to antagonise to nurture closer relations.

“They have to rethink that, because that would be a flashpoint someday and even, you know, warning others,” Duterte said of China’s actions to uphold its claims in the disputed waters.

He also said that “I hope that China would temper … its behaviour”, warning that in the disputed sea, “one of these days a hothead commander there will just press a trigger”.

“You cannot create an island, it’s man-made, and you say that the air above these artificial islands is yours. That is wrong because those waters are what we consider international sea,” Duterte said.