South China Sea: Marcos says Philippines ‘will not lose inch’ of territory as Beijing tensions surge
- President Ferdinand Marcos said the heightened geopolitical tensions ‘threatened the security and stability of the country and the region’
- He, however, added the Chinese coastguard’s aiming of a military-grade laser at a Philippine boat was insufficient to invoke a mutual defence treaty with the US
“This country will not lose an inch of its territory. We will continue to uphold our territorial integrity and sovereignty in accordance with our constitution and with international law. We will work with our neighbours to secure the safety and security of our peoples.”
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Beijing’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s foreign ministry had said its coastguard conducted actions according to law.
However, Marcos sees the laser pointing incident as insufficient to invoke a mutual defence treaty with the United States, a longstanding ally.
“If we activated that, what we are doing is escalating, intensifying the tensions in the area and I think that would be counterproductive,” Marcos told reporters.
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Chinese military ship accused of shining laser light at Philippine coastguard vessel
Marcos said he discussed with China’s ambassador to Manila what he saw was intensifying actions of Chinese marine militia, coastguard and navy, including the laser pointing incident.
China’s recent actions, just a month after Marcos’ state visit to Beijing, has stoked a long-running territorial dispute over the South China Sea.
China claims large swathes of the strategic waterway, where about US$3 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually, which was invalidated by an international tribunal in The Hague in 2016.
