Philippines Says China Warned of War in South China Sea

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said China threatened him with war if he insisted on enforcing last year’s arbiter’s ruling on the South China Sea, a serious claim that comes as Southeast Asian nations and Beijing agreed on a framework code of conduct to prevent clashes in the sea region.

Speaking in the southern city of Davao before members of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, Duterte said he had told Beijing leader Xi Jinping that he wanted to drill in the disputed area, which is believed to sit atop vast mineral deposits. “We intend to drill oil there, if it’s yours, well, that’s your view, but my view is I can drill the oil, if there is some inside the bowels of the earth because it is ours,” Duterte said in a nationally televised speech. He said the Chinese leader told him, “We’re friends, we don’t want to quarrel with you. We want to maintain the presence of warm relationship, but if you force the issue, we’ll go to war.” Read more