Duterte: ‘It will be bloody’ if Philippine territory breached
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestured with a fist bump during his visit to the Philippine Army’s Camp Mateo Capinpin at Tanay township, Rizal province east of Manila, Philippines on Wednesday.
TANAY, Philippines » The tough-talking Philippine president said Wednesday he will walk the extra mile for peace but warned China “it will be bloody” if the militarily superior Asian neighbor infringes on his country’s territory.
President Rodrigo Duterte issued the warning in comments on his country’s territorial disputes with China in a speech before troops at an army camp east of Manila. He has been seeking talks with China on the long-unresolved conflict.
Duterte said China has been conciliatory and he did not want any fight.
“We do not want a quarrel,” he said. “I would walk the extra mile to ask for peace for everybody.”
He expressed fears, however, about what will happen if the peaceful efforts fail, saying Filipino troops are ready to defend their country’s sovereignty despite its weak military.
“I guarantee to (China), if you enter here, it will be bloody,” he said. “And we will not give it to them easily. It will be the bones of our soldiers, you can include mine.”
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An international arbitration tribunal ruled last month that China’s extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea were invalid under a 1982 U.N. treaty, in a major setback for Beijing, which has ignored the decision.
Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, initiated the arbitration case against China. Duterte has not pressed for Chinese compliance and does not plan to raise the decision at an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders with their Chinese counterpart in Laos next month.
Duterte said, however, that “whether we like it or not, that arbitral judgment will be insisted not only by the Philippines” but by other countries in Southeast Asia, suggesting China should take steps to resolve the territorial issues now while conditions are conducive.
“We will not raise hell now because of the judgment, but there will come a time that we have to do some reckoning about this,” Duterte said.
26 responses to “Duterte: ‘It will be bloody’ if Philippine territory breached”
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China vs. the Philippines; it will end well.
Duterte should stick with killing those who want to be Duterte and avoid everything else!!!
Friend of mine participated in some joint exercises with the Filipino Marines. He thought they were some of the toughest guys in Asia. They had poor equipment, but he said they had good fighting spirit and were dedicated to protecting the country. Yeah China versus the Philippines will not be a fair fight, but my guess is the Philippine Armed Forces will put up a fight and not roll over.
China will squash Bukbuk country like a fly. Tough talk from a small fry.
IRT Oahuan: I’m trolling, he not a fly—yet, still a larva.
This “clown” of a President sure talks tough about spilling
blood especially when it’s someone else’ blood. China will
kick the Philippines butt back to the Stone Age if this “Trump
Loving Moron” fires the first shot … he’ll be calling the
US of A to bail his sorry butt out of trouble.
Just like the Afgans and now ISIS. The US is light years ahead of them militarily but we’re sure not kicking it.
China is taking advantage of everyone’s strive for peace to steal resources
China is on an aggressive stealing course to expand their territory. We should raise high import duties on their products, and that will also bring our factory jobs back. Their communist party has deteriorated into a criminal organisation.
He’s got the blinders on, really no point.
Are you on the Chinese payroll?
Are you on the American payroll?
Just another blind donkey
Thats to you American hater
so it would be fair for the US to go onto those reclaimed islands and start harvesting oil?
Morimoto says: “the ‘resources’ you talk of don’t belong to anyone so China isn’t stealing anything.”
You are overlooking one thing: oceanic resources – – in the form of the South China Sea – – that are in fact international waters via which billions of dollars of shipping commerce depends. If the PRC decides these are the territorial waters of the People’s Republic and moves to put teeth into this policy with land, air, and naval forces based on artificially created “islands” to threaten the current right of innocent passage, this might well ignite an all out regional conflict. PRC politburo heavy hitters need to go all out to reassure their neighbors that this is NOT their intention.
What is the lesson we all tend to learn when growing up. Giving in to a bully, just invites more of the same.
The Philippines are not in this fight alone. The other countries, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and the US and others all have a
stake in stopping China’s aggressive actions. Unfortunately, China has not learned the lesson of Japan whose ill advised
attempt to expand their empire led to the loss of millions of lives which were all unnecessary. This time the stakes
are way higher.
” It will be Diniquan “!
This guy is NUTS.
Tough talk only; nobody will start a fight. China had gotten itself into a jam when they tried to claim the South Sea as their territory without any solid evident and argument. That’s why they didn’t show up in the arbitration because they knew they’ll lose. All they want now is to back off without losing face.
China’s “backing off” includes placing military aircraft, warplanes and support units, along with reinforced hardpoints for missiles and advanced tracking radar. The question is, and has always been, will the US do anything about it or turn a blind eye to an area that “has nothing to do with us”? Is there a problem with China expanding their territory and staking claims in resource rich areas long held by neighboring countries or otherwise considered neutral? Of course not. But I am also guessing that the average poster to this comments section are of an age where the future really doesn’t matter does it? If you have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, think about them. That area will be a flashpoint. It will not be pretty. It will spur other countries to do the same. The world ignored Crimea, the world is ignoring the South China Sea, and people like Duterte and Trump are given national office and platforms to spew their vitriol. Just go back 80 years and see the parallels.
nuuanusam:
Your post is the only one that makes sense.
“Pride” is an important fact of life in Asian cultures.
If they can exit gracefully, without losing face, I believe they will.
Otherwise.. they’ll fight to the bloody end to save face.
Pride is not the issue. The issue is does China have the right claim to the atolls in the South Sea? Take a look at the disputed area and see if the South China Sea “pie” is divided equally. The distance from the disputed atolls to the nearest point on mainland China is approx 900KM. The distance to the nearest point to Luzon is less than 1500KM, yet China wants claim to islands that are very far away. China’s intent is to have control of the South China Sea.
Here’s another disturbing fact, all neighboring countries (Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia) have claims to some of the other atolls in the area. Their gripe isn’t with each other, but with China.
Let’s play a hypothetical scenario. What if China successfully takes control of the whole South China sea. What is to prevent from using the same philosphy to take over the islands in the East China Sea? Do they want to start a war with Japan?
Mainstream media is focused on the Scarborough Shoal (PI/China), but the bigger issue is with the Paracel Islands (Vietnam and China). Vietnam has a long history of conflicts with China and Vietnam has already felt the pain of modern Warfare. They will not take crap from China.
So now you’re saying that U.S. should say away and let them settle their own problems. The last time I checked, U.S. did exactly that in the years preceding WWI and WWII, yet they were dragged into it.
lol
I’m surprised that he hasn’t been assassinated by now as he’s made quite a lot of enemies……
Gotta love this guy. He is not bluffing. Filipinos have proved it before. They will fight. I am rooting for the underdogs.