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

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The Philippines’ former president Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: Handout via AP

Published: 5:30pm, 29 Jun 2023

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.

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.

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