The governor of a Philippine province suggested that China wouldn’t hesitate to attack the Philippines if Beijing entered right into a conflict with the forces hosted by this Southeast Asian country.
Manuel Mamba, governor of Cagayan province, about 600 km south of Taiwan, said on Tuesday that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong gave him the warning during a gathering last May in Beijing.
“They will be forced to consider us their enemies,” added the governor, who opposes the presence of foreign troops within the Philippines.
Mamba shared Sun’s message because the Philippines and the United States recently concluded joint military exercises with limited participation from other countries. The exercises were held in several areas of the country, including Cagayan and nearby Batanes province, which is closer to Taiwan.
“I think as long as we don’t have foreign forces here, we could avoid getting involved in any war,” Mamba said, noting that ending the agreement on access to military bases with the U.S. could also end China’s bullying within the South China Sea.
Sun also reiterated China’s preference for a bilateral approach to resolving maritime disputes with the Philippines and the necessity for the 2 countries to take care of “good neighborliness,” said Mamba, who wants his mainly agricultural province to learn from China’s economic growth.
“We just talk and let diplomats do it, not generals. When the generals start talking, there’s war. But when diplomats speak, they all the time take a look at the brighter side and the golden mean, the grey area,” he said of maritime disputes.
Despite Sun’s statements regarding a possible military conflict, Mamba stated that he believed China would never start a war or attack any country given its economic status.
China’s massive claims within the South China Sea were invalidated in 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. It rejects this decision, although it’s a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which allows for arbitration.
