Philippine president makes remarks as Beijing and Manila announce a provisional deal to defuse tensions at the Second Thomas Shoal.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr says his country will not yield or waver on its stand on territorial disputes in the South China Sea as he calls for tensions in the strategic waterway to be settled through diplomatic channels.
Marcos made the remarks in his annual state of the nation address to Congress on Monday as the Philippines and China seek to defuse friction after a series of violent clashes in the contested waters.Without naming China, Marcos said the Philippines will address challenges to its territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea, known as the West Philippine Sea in Manila, by asserting “our rights and interests in the same fair and pacific way that we have always done”.
The Philippines will continue to “find ways to de-escalate tensions in contested areas … without compromising our position and our principles”, he said
“The Philippines cannot yield. The Philippines cannot waver,” he said, receiving a standing ovation when he declared, “The West Philippine Sea … is ours.”
The Philippine president’s speech came a day after Manila and Beijing announced reaching a “provisional arrangement” for resupply missions to Filipino troops stationed at the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including the Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines maintains a rusty naval ship to reinforce its own maritime claims.
Filipino and Chinese troops have clashed violently at the submerged reef in recent months, fuelling fears of a conflict that could drag in the United States owing to its mutual defence treaty with Manila.
