The Philippines is working to keep away from being caught in the course of the 2 competing world powers, the US and China, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has mentioned in Davos.
According to the Presidential Communications Office, Marcos was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
He was quoted as saying that the Philippines was growing its cooperation with the US whereas creating mechanisms to ease the strain with China amid geopolitical points within the Asia Pacific.
Marcos talked about a proverb as regards grass getting trampled whereas elephants combat.
“We are the grass in this situation. We don’t want to get trampled,” Marcos mentioned.
Marcos mentioned there have been 150,000 Filipinos in Taiwan and that its southernmost metropolis Kaohsiung was solely 40 minutes away from Batanes.
The Philippines and China even have overlapping claims within the South China Sea even after the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague invalidated in 2016 China’s historic claims in favor of the Philippines’ unique financial zone beneath the UNCLOS.
Marcos in his current go to to China mentioned he proposed to Chinese President Xi Jinping that an present bilateral workforce chargeable for tackling South China Sea incidents be upgraded to incorporate senior officers on each side.
The PCO mentioned that in a separate interview with the Financial Times, Marcos mentioned he anticipated intensified army relations with the US, with elevated US troops and army property rotating by the Philippines.
Marcos dominated out the reopening of the previous US army bases in Clark and Subic, saying overseas bases weren’t allowed beneath the nation’s Constitution. —NB, GMA Integrated News
