PRRD confirms Chinese military buildup in SCS

DA NANG, Vietnam – China has stepped up its military buildup in the South China Sea while the world was busy worrying about the nuclear tension in the Korean peninsula, President Duterte bared Thursday.

The latest photographs the President saw showed military facilities, including missile batteries, installed by China on “almost all” disputed territories.

“While we were looking intensely on what was evolving in the Korean Peninsula, the next photographs

obtained by the intelligence showed almost all islands were militarized already,” Duterte said during a media interview after meeting the Filipino community Thursday night.

“There were batteries which mean the arms that are posted to fly. I’ve said this before, which is really true,” he added.

Concerned with China’s growing militarization of the disputed territory, the President said he would ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to agree towards the crafting of a code of conduct to ease the tension in the vital regional waterway.

“Because we are friends, I’m ready to listen to China,” he said. “I will tell him straight. ‘You know Mr. President the whole of the ASEAN is worried about how we should behave in the seas that are now militarized,” he added.

“The best way is to have a written code of conduct so you read it and you would know that you are crossing boundaries because as of now, it is now a contested claim,” he said.

Duterte likewise ruled out going to war with China, saying the country cannot afford to use force or violence to force China to stop its reclamation works. He maintained that he prefers to settle the dispute through peaceful and lawful means.

Worried ASEAN Duterte said he would also inform Xi about Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) “wary and worry” about the increased military buildup during their meeting today on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit here.

“It is not wrong for me to tell China. Look, you have – You know, already placed the heavy artillery there. So it puts us in a wary, worried and wary because we are also using the passage,” he said.

“Those arms and they are not there for any other purpose. They are not decorations. They’re there because China would need them. For what purpose, I really do not know,” he added.

Duterte explained ASEAN wants a code of conduct so each nation will know how to behave. “What are the things that we should avoid so that we can avoid also the missiles that would follow us. So what are the things that would irritate you? The code of conduct is very important,” he said.

“I’m not criticizing China. I’m just telling them that it is high time for us to have that code of conduct of the sea,” he added.

Duterte and Xi are among the 21 world leaders attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Da Nang, Vietnam this week.

The ASEAN, currently chaired by the Philippines, has initiated negotiations for the framework of the code of conduct of concerned parties in the South China Sea.

The President, meantime, assured that the country is determined to keep its strong friendship with China and not wage war over the territorial conflict.

“But if it is for war against us, then forget it. I’m not interested to go to war with China. I’m interested in the friendship,” he said.

“I do not want to lose the friendship of China. China is a good friend. China was there when we needed most their help,” he added. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)