China is the “biggest disruptor” of peace in Southeast Asia, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro mentioned Tuesday, as tensions escalate between Manila and Beijing over disputed reefs and waters within the South China Sea.
Teodoro made the feedback at a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command convention following repeated confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels over the previous 12 months.
Beijing claims practically the complete South China Sea, dismissing rival claims from different nations, together with the Philippines, and ignoring a global ruling that rejects its place as legally unfounded.
China’s claims lengthen to reefs and waters inside the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, which reaches roughly 370 kilometers (200 nautical miles) from its coast.
“China is the biggest disruptor of international peace in the ASEAN region,” Teodoro mentioned, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
China has deployed boats to patrol the busy waterway and constructed militarized synthetic islands to bolster its claims.
Teodoro referred to as on different international locations to denounce China’s “illegal acts” and apply stress till China ceases its actions. “We need a collective consensus and a strong call out against China,” he mentioned. “We are struggling against a more powerful adversary.”
His remarks observe a Chinese assertion that it had carried out “control measures” in opposition to two Philippine Coast Guard ships that entered waters close to Sabina Shoal within the Spratly Islands. The Philippine Coast Guard had despatched the vessels to ship provisions to a ship stationed on the reef.
Recent confrontations have occurred round Sabina Shoal, located 140 kilometers (86 miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometers from China’s Hainan island. Both sides have stationed coast guard vessels on the shoal and Manila fears that China might plan to construct a man-made island there.
Relations between the international locations have strained as President Ferdinand Marcos’s administration takes a agency stance in opposition to Chinese actions within the contested waters. In June, the Philippine navy reported {that a} sailor misplaced a thumb in a confrontation the place Beijing’s coast guard additionally confiscated or destroyed Philippine tools, together with firearms, close to the Second Thomas Shoal within the Spratlys.
Source: www.dailysabah.com