Philippines to China: The South China Sea Is Ours

South China Sea
The Benham Rise continental shelf is off the east coast of the Philippine island of Luzon.
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte dispatched his navy today (Monday) to assert Philippine ownership of a large ocean region off the country's northeastern coast.

In this most recent development of the ongoing South China Sea dispute, the Filipino president also requested that his military put up "structures" over this particular stretch of water known as "Benham Rise," Reuters reported this morning.

Precisely what kind of structures Duterte has in mind have yet to be revealed.

But it was in this particular area - Benham Rise - that Manila first spotted a Chinese survey ship roaming around last year, specifically between July and December.

Beijing's foreign ministry has claimed several times since that the vessel had a right to pass through the area under international law.

Despite China's claims, Duterte is insistent about scrambling his navy today in what he claims will be "friendly" military maneuvers toward China...

A "Friendly" Showdown in the South China Sea?

"My order to my military," Duterte said in a press conference this morning: "You go there and tell [China] straight that this is ours, but I say it in friendship."

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Filipino Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also spoke publically this morning about hastily boosting the small island nation's naval presence in the contested waters. He even went so far as to "accept China's explanation" that its survey vessel had a right to be there, reported Reuters today.

But then Lorenzana made a second, far more aggressive statement about Beijing's presence...

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"We are concerned," the Filipino defense minister went on to say. "[China has] no business going there."

Lorenzana's latter claim echoed the core sentiment involved in the ongoing feud between Beijing and Manila -- a feud that started in 2012 when the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf declared Benham Rise to be part of the Philippine continental shelf.

This ruling irked China enough to issue several threats toward the Philippines in the years since.

However, tensions between Manila and Beijing eased considerably after Duterte took office on June 30, 2016, and put the spat on hold. The new president opted to seek Chinese trade and economic aid instead.

"I've realigned myself in [China's] ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines, and Russia," Duterte declared at a conference in Beijing on Oct. 20, 2016, according to Reuters. "It's the only way."

That ideological realignment, however, apparently doesn't pertain to ownership claims in the South China Sea...

Today's latest turn of events - with Duterte essentially going back on his word - puts the United States in an awkward position now...

You see, China has long criticized Washington's presence in the contested waters. And when Duterte came into office, he canceled his predecessor's plans on Sept. 26, 2016, for any future joint Philippine patrols with the U.S. Navy in an effort to show his fealty to China.

But now it seems the small island nation is preparing to exert its sovereignty over China after all...

Without the U.S.' help.

Profit Secrets from the South China Sea

China thinks it can push the United States and its allies out of Asia altogether to secure its energy riches for itself.

Thanks to a small $6 U.S. defense contractor with top-secret technology, the Pentagon has a plan to stop China dead in its tracks. Click here for the full briefing.

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