Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Tuesday that China is the biggest disruptor of international peace in the region.
“China is the biggest disruptor of international peace in the ASEAN region,” Gilberto Teodoro said at a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command meeting in Manila, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Teodoro also said Manila was serious about protecting its sovereignty.
Teodoro's remarks come in the wake of a series of clashes between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Teodoro called on partner countries to condemn China's “illegal actions” in the WPS.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including the Western Pacific Ocean, despite international court rulings finding its claims have no legal basis.
Beijing's claim includes reefs and waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, which stretches about 370 kilometers (200 nautical miles) from the Philippines' coastal waters.
Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim parts of the South China Sea, a transit point for more than $3 trillion in ship-based trade each year.
China has rejected a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that said China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea have no basis in international law. — Reuters and AFP
