MANILA – China is the biggest disruptor of international peace in Southeast Asia, according to Department of National Defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
He made the remark in a conference of the US Indo-Pacific Command in Manila on Tuesday, where he said the Philippines is serious about protecting its sovereignty.
“China is the biggest disruptor of international peace in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) region,” Teodoro said.
Teodoro also urged other countries to call out China’s “illegal acts” until it yields to pressure to stop its actions.
“We need a collective consensus and a strong call out against China,” Teodoro said. “We are struggling against a more powerful adversary.”
Teodoro’s statement came after a series of confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea.
On Sunday, Chinese vessels blocked, rammed and fired water cannons against a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel while doing a resupply mission to Filipino fishermen in Escoda Shoal.
China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, including the WPS, despite an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
China’s claims include reefs and waters inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, which extends about 370 kilometers (200 nautical miles) from the country’s coastal waters.
Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam have competing claims of sovereignty in portions of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship-borne commerce.
China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that found Beijing’s expansive claims over the South China Sea had no basis under international law./PN
