Did he or did he not?

DFA Secretary Cayetano downplays the supposed threat of war made by President Xi Jinping of China to President Rodrigo Duterte, when the two leaders recently met in Beijing. No surprises there. What is surprising is the overall uncaring attitude of the administration to this supposed threat of war by the biggest country on the planet. Jinping's supposed answer to Duterte's assertion of Philippine territory and drilling rights doesn't seem to concern anyone in the Duterte Cabinet. Cayetano goes on to say that what transpired between the two leaders did not have the tone of threats and bullying that some are saying. Yet he did not deny or confirm that the word "war" was used. Perhaps another hyperbole, care of the country's president? Did Jinping even make a threat?

But even China has not come out to deny that the threat of war was uttered by Jinping. Instead, it has come out with the usual canned statements regarding anything that has to do with the South China Sea conflict -peaceful resolutions through friendly consultations. This as China has already placed surface-toair missiles on islands in the South China Sea. Talking softly while carrying a big stick.

I'm certain that if another country aside from China made a threat of war -say the US- Duterte would have gone ballistic. The dollar signs and visions of his train probably tempered Duterte's reaction to the threat. He is now in Russia, where he stated that he no longer wants to deal with the "double-talking West". Russia is apparently willing to sell arms and weapons sans any conditions, unlike the US, weapons Duterte says the country sorely needs. But isn't Russia China's ally? Will Russia sell weapons we can use against China, should that threat of war materialize? Ironic, isn't it?

I believe Scarborough Shoal would be the flashpoint. China has already seen and heard how helpless the country is if they do what they want. We seem to have been put in our place by that threat. If construction of anything on Scarborough Shoal by China commences, then we will probably realize what this new friendship really is. I remember China saying that friends do not sue one another, in response to the country's case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Well, friends do not threaten war too.

‘I believe Scarborough Shoal would be the flashpoint.

China has already seen and heard how helpless the country is if they do what they want. We seem to have been put in

our place by that threat.’