Philippines could become ‘graveyard’ if US-China rivalry gets out of hand: Duterte

Former president Rodrigo Duterte says he has repeatedly assured Chinese envoy Huang Xilan that the Philippines does not have a dispute with China
Duterte also questions the decision to grant the US greater military access, saying it would be ‘pretty naive’ to think Washington would not deploy nuclear warheads to the Philippines

The Philippines

SCMP’s Asia desk

Published: 5:30pm, 29 Jun, 2023

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Philippine ex-president Rodrigo Duterte has warned the country could become a “graveyard” if the US-China rivalry comes to a head, as Manila tightens defence ties with Washington, its long-time security ally.

Duterte said he regularly met Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian to convey that his country did not have a dispute with Beijing, its largest trade partner.

Huang, however, told the China-friendly former leader that if the current Ferdinand Marcos Jnr administration “provides places … where there can be an aggression against Beijing, the Philippines would always be a target”.

“I reminded him again that the Philippines does not have a quarrel with China,” Duterte told broadcaster SMNI News this week.

As Philippines tweaks US-China balance, ‘mixed messages’ could upset Beijing

Huang was hinting at the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), under which Manila in April gave the US access to four additional bases near the Taiwan Strait and the contested South China Sea, bringing the number of military sites Washington could use in the country to nine.

China said the decision was “stoking the fire” of regional tension.

President Marcos Jnr has maintained the deal, conceived to tackle the effects of climate change, was not intended for use for “offensive action” against any country.

Duterte, who pulled the Philippines away from the US and built closer relations with China during his six years in office, also questioned his successor’s decision to grant the country’s former colonial ruler more bases.

He added Washington could place its nuclear assets in the military installations.

“By granting bases to America, we can be sure – and I am sure as the sun rises in the east – that these nuclear bases, which now increased to 17, will have nuclear warheads,” Duterte said.

It was unclear why he claimed there were 17 EDCA sites in the country, as the government has only announced nine such locations.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in June 2022. Duterte pulled the Philippines away from the US and built closer relations with China during his six years in office. Photo: AFP

Duterte said it would be “pretty naive or stupidity” to think the US would not deploy nuclear weapons to the Philippines.

“Nuclear bombs are far too different … I think, or I believe, not think, that the Philippines would be a graveyard if war comes,” he said.

Ties between the Philippines and China had strained amid growing tensions in the South China Sea, where Manila and several other nations have rival claims to Beijing’s.

The Asian giant’s aggressive tactics have also prompted Marcos Jnr to sharply pivot to the US, with the Department of Foreign Affairs saying the relationship was “in a very good place now”.

“The alliance is ironclad. Our economic relations are strong. And the friendship between our two peoples is unshakeable,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper quoted a ministry official as saying.

Calls grow in Philippines for UN to intervene in South China Sea dispute

Meanwhile, the Philippine navy this week deployed for the first time its anti-submarine warfare assets to the West Philippine Sea to boost the force’s capability to detect and hit enemy vessels

West Philippine Sea is the term Manila uses to describe the eastern parts of the South China Sea that are within its exclusive economic zone and territorial waters.