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South China Sea: Philippines’ Marcos ‘appalled’ by Xi-Duterte ‘gentleman’s agreement’ on establishment in disputed waters

President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said he was “horrified” by the news of the agreement between his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterteand China, which bans Manila from transporting construction materials to a military outpost on a disputed sandbank on the river South China Sea.

“If this agreement stipulates that we have to get permission from another country to be able to do something in our own territory, it would probably be difficult to keep it,” Marcos told reporters on Wednesday.

“I’m horrified by the thought that by secret agreement we’ve got violated territory, sovereignty and sovereign rights Philippines” he added.

Duterte-Xi has allegedly entered right into a “gentlemen’s agreement” to keep up the establishment within the disputed sea

Duterte’s former spokesman Harry Roque said the Philippines had a “gentleman’s agreement” with China during Duterte’s term that stops Manila from sending repair materials to the World War II-era ship that has served as a national outpost at Second Thomas Bank for a couple of quarter of a century.
Philippine military ship-based troop rotation and resupply missions, referred to as BRP Sierra Madre, have grow to be a continuing source tension between Manila and Beijingwith Chinese ships using water cannons on Philippine ships in several cases.

Marcos said his government will not be aware of any provisions regarding the agreement and that he was not informed about it when he took office in 2022. The administration is talking to former officials during Duterte’s term on the matter, but Marcos said, “we still have not gotten a straight answer.” “.

How the interior politics of the Philippines may affect tensions within the South China Sea

Tensions with China shall be a serious topic of Thursday’s White House summit between the president Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Marcos, as Washington seeks to strengthen cooperation amongst allies in Indo-Pacific region, attempting to counter mainland China within the face of pressure from Beijing Taiwan and the East and South China Seas.

There is prone to be an agreement between the three countries “to keep up security and freedom of navigation within the South China Sea,” Marcos said. He said the Philippine leader will even hold bilateral talks with Biden on the sidelines of the summit to proceed discussions on further strengthening the alliance between Manila and Washington.

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