Philippine Defense Chief Rips China Officials in Testy Exchange
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro engaged in a testy back-and-forth with Chinese officials at a Singapore security forum on Sunday, accusing leaders in Beijing of grabbing territory in disputed waters and repressing their own people.
During a panel at the Shangri-La Dialogue, two senior colonels in the People's Liberation Army directed questions at Teodoro, asking whether the Philippines would serve as a US proxy in Asia or adopt a friendlier approach toward China.
Teodoro thanked the pair for 'propaganda spiels disguised as questions,' a line that received rare applause from those in attendance. He went on to lambast China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying a lack of trust in Beijing was 'the biggest stumbling block' to resolving the dispute.
'That deficit of trust, which I think any rational person — or any person that is not ideologically biased, with freedom of thought and freedom of speech — will agree with,' Teodoro said. He added that he couldn't trust a country that 'represses its own people.'
Tensions between China and the Philippines have escalated under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has pushed back against Beijing's sweeping claims over the strategic waterway, leading to confrontations between their ships. Manila last month said China's Coast Guard fired a water cannon on a state fisheries vessel conducting research in Sandy Cay in the Spratlys area.
'To envision a China-led international order, we only need to look at how they treat their much smaller neighbors in the South China Sea, which runs counter to the 'peaceful rise' they initially promised,' Teodoro said.
China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea and backs this up with a 1947 map that shows vague dashes outlining its claims, which are disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. In 2016, an international tribunal said China's sweeping claims have no legal basis, a ruling that Beijing rejects.
In an interview with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin later on Sunday, Teodoro said China's military was 'grabbing territory in the South China Sea' and expanding its presence to the Arctic and off Australia.
'For us, our biggest threat is China,' he said. 'And on that, we converge not only with the United States but with other countries.'
The Southeast Asian nation is on the frontlines of US-backed efforts to deter China in the region, with the long-time allies ramping up military drills to enhance interoperability. Apart from granting the US military access to more Philippine bases, including some in close proximity to Taiwan, Manila has also signed agreements on mutual military visits with Japan and New Zealand, and is in discussions on similar pacts with Canada and France.
China has built artificial islands with military infrastructure in contested waters to bolster its expansive claims. The Philippines has a 'variety of options' in the event Beijing seizes a reef that's close to Philippine shores.
'We have to uphold our territorial integrity and sovereignty,' Teodoro said. 'And we have devised options in our toolkit to deal with contingencies, and we plan for these and train for them accordingly.'
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
28 minutes ago
- Economic Times
US stocks end down as Tesla slumps 14% on Trump-Musk feud
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel Wall Street's stock indexes ended lower on Thursday in choppy trade as a slump in Tesla shares offset news of progress in tariff talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi of electric car-maker Tesla dropped more than 14% in heavy trading as the public feud between CEO Elon Musk and Trump intensified. The stock has fallen four out of the last five sessions. The company lost about $150 billion in value after Trump and Musk began their verbal has stepped up criticism of the president's massive tax legislation in recent days, while Trump alleged Musk was upsetbecause the bill takes away tax benefits for electric vehicle purchases."The fallout for Tesla stock is self-evident," said Mark Spiegel, portfolio manager at Stanphyl Capital."I see no meaningful fallout from this for the rest of the market, other than its slight effect on the indexes and index funds. The overall stock market has plenty of problems, but Tesla isn't one of them."Investors focused earlier on news that Trump and the Chinese leader had invited each other to their respective countries for visits as shown in U.S. and Chinese summaries of their phone call on Thursday.A recent dispute over critical minerals had threatened to tear up a fragile trade truce between the two biggest economies."Recent market moves are further indication that with economic policy shifts, and higher geopolitical and headline sensitivity, equity markets will be characterized by greater volatility and velocity than in the previous cycle," said Katherine Bordlemay, co-head of Americas client portfolio management for fundamental equities at Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 108.00 points, or 0.25%, to end at 42,319.74. The S&P 500 lost 31.51 points, or 0.53%, at 5,939.30 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 162.04 points, or 0.83%, to 19, U.S. private payrolls and services sector data on Wednesday raised concerns about an economic slowdown caused by trade uncertainties, with investors focusing squarely on Friday's nonfarm payrolls report. Initial jobless claims data on Thursday showed Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week rose for a second straight City Federal Reserve Bank President Jeff Schmid on Thursday expressed concern that tariffs could rekindle inflation, saying upward price pressure could be apparent in coming months but not fully known for much comments show Schmid is likely inclined to hold the Fed policy rate steady at its June 17-18 meeting as is widely expected, but also beyond calls from Trump to slash rates, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has opted to stand pat so far, awaiting further data to guide the policy decision as tariff volatility prevails.U.S. equities rallied sharply in May, with the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq scoring their biggest monthly percentage gains since November 2023, thanks to a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings fell almost 18% after the Jack Daniel's maker forecast a decline in annual revenue and & Gamble said it will cut 7,000 jobs, or about 6% of its workforce, over the next two years in a restructuring. Shares of the consumer goods bellwether fell 1.9%.Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 17.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 17.9 billion shares over the previous 20 issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.11-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 253 new highs and 49 new lows on the the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.48-to-1 S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and three new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 42 new lows.
Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
US stocks end down as Tesla slumps 14% on Trump-Musk feud
Wall Street's stock indexes ended lower on Thursday in choppy trade as a slump in Tesla shares offset news of progress in tariff talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Shares of electric car-maker Tesla dropped more than 14% in heavy trading as the public feud between CEO Elon Musk and Trump intensified. The stock has fallen four out of the last five sessions. The company lost about $150 billion in value after Trump and Musk began their verbal war. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Thailand: New Small Electric Car For Seniors. Prices Might Surprise You. Electric Cars | Search Ads Undo Musk has stepped up criticism of the president's massive tax legislation in recent days, while Trump alleged Musk was upset because the bill takes away tax benefits for electric vehicle purchases. "The fallout for Tesla stock is self-evident," said Mark Spiegel, portfolio manager at Stanphyl Capital. Live Events "I see no meaningful fallout from this for the rest of the market, other than its slight effect on the indexes and index funds. The overall stock market has plenty of problems, but Tesla isn't one of them." Investors focused earlier on news that Trump and the Chinese leader had invited each other to their respective countries for visits as shown in U.S. and Chinese summaries of their phone call on Thursday. A recent dispute over critical minerals had threatened to tear up a fragile trade truce between the two biggest economies. "Recent market moves are further indication that with economic policy shifts, and higher geopolitical and headline sensitivity, equity markets will be characterized by greater volatility and velocity than in the previous cycle," said Katherine Bordlemay, co-head of Americas client portfolio management for fundamental equities at GSAM. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 108.00 points, or 0.25%, to end at 42,319.74. The S&P 500 lost 31.51 points, or 0.53%, at 5,939.30 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 162.04 points, or 0.83%, to 19,298.45. Weaker-than-expected U.S. private payrolls and services sector data on Wednesday raised concerns about an economic slowdown caused by trade uncertainties, with investors focusing squarely on Friday's nonfarm payrolls report. Initial jobless claims data on Thursday showed Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week rose for a second straight week. Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Jeff Schmid on Thursday expressed concern that tariffs could rekindle inflation, saying upward price pressure could be apparent in coming months but not fully known for much longer. The comments show Schmid is likely inclined to hold the Fed policy rate steady at its June 17-18 meeting as is widely expected, but also beyond that. Despite calls from Trump to slash rates, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has opted to stand pat so far, awaiting further data to guide the policy decision as tariff volatility prevails. U.S. equities rallied sharply in May, with the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq scoring their biggest monthly percentage gains since November 2023, thanks to a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings reports. Brown-Forman fell almost 18% after the Jack Daniel's maker forecast a decline in annual revenue and profit. Procter & Gamble said it will cut 7,000 jobs, or about 6% of its workforce, over the next two years in a restructuring. Shares of the consumer goods bellwether fell 1.9%. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 17.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 17.9 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.11-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 253 new highs and 49 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.48-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and three new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 42 new lows.
Hindustan Times
35 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
China calls the shots in Myanmar's civil war
In March a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar, in which 3,740 people died. And yet the earthquake is not the main humanitarian crisis in that troubled country. Since Myanmar's military junta brutally took control in a coup in 2021, nearly 10,000 civilians have been killed. The UN estimates 3m have been displaced and over 2m are on the brink of famine. The economy has shrunk by a fifth, and is estimated to be around half the size of its pre-coup trajectory. All this has made Myanmar a hub of lawlessness in Asia. Illicit drug production, human-trafficking and a huge scam industry are booming. Much of the world has paid scant attention to Myanmar since the coup. Western countries, which did the most to encourage democracy there in the decade up to 2021, have been consumed with crises in Ukraine and Gaza. But China has not lost focus. It has taken advantage of the chaos next door to steal a march on its geopolitical rivals. Engaging both the junta and its opponents, China works to protect its varied interests in the country: ensuring stability along its border and along the lengthy trade routes leading to the Indian Ocean; protecting Chinese investments in the country; shutting down scam centres targeting Chinese citizens; and, above all, limiting Western influence. China's strategy has been a stunning success. Both the junta and resistance groups started out hostile to Chinese influence. But neither dares cross their larger neighbour now. Its control of trade in arms and other illicit goods puts it in a decisive position. One Chinese investment in particular illustrates the point. A 2,500km (1,500-mile) oil-and-gas pipeline begins on Myanmar's south-western coast and runs through a cross-section of the conflict to Kunming, the capital of China's south-western province of Yunnan (see map). Yet it remains entirely unmolested, with groups on both sides careful to avoid damaging it. Those fighting the junta are a ragtag group. Young people who survived attacks on counter-coup protests fled to the country's mountainous borderlands. They were trained and armed there by ethnic-minority armies, which have fought the government on-and-off for decades. Those new resistance fighters, who are mostly made up of the Bamar, the majority ethnic group, returned to the arid centre of the country known as the 'dry zone'. They now challenge the junta in its own backyard by attacking its convoys and operating their own schools and clinics. The junta responds through air strikes and search-and-destroy missions that often lead to the torture and execution of civilians. The insurgents have been joined by many of the ethnic armies based along the country's periphery. These can be divided into two camps. Some, like those along the Thai and Indian borders, have long looked to the West and tend to be more supportive of the Spring Revolution, as the hotchpotch of those resisting the military rule call their movement. Their own offensives have taken significant territory off the military. Other ethnic militias, including most groups along the Chinese border, have closer ties to China. Several have historical links with China's Communist Party, having emerged in 1989 from the Burmese Communist Party. They share an impatience with democracy and the West. Brothers in arms The first camp was quick to support the revolution, but their progress was slow. Those groups closer to China remained aloof from the fight at first, observing ceasefires with the junta. Then, in October 2023, a coalition of these China-linked groups known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched a surprise attack on junta positions in Shan State in the east, and a few weeks later, in Rakhine State in the west. Within two months they had handed the army a string of defeats greater than any since the years immediately following independence from Britain in 1948. It is probable that the Brotherhood's offensive was approved by China, which wanted to clear out scam centres trafficking Chinese citizens and targeting Chinese victims. After the Brotherhood accomplished these goals, China quickly pushed the two sides to sign a truce. But in June 2024 the Brotherhood groups broke the truce. One successfully assaulted the city of Lashio in Shan state and the junta's Eastern Operations Command. Never before had such a large city or military base been seized by rebels. Another of the Brotherhood groups started down the road to Mandalay, stopping just outside the picturesque hill station above the city, where the military's service academies sit. Fearing that these lightning offensives might cause a demoralised military government to collapse, China cut off trade with the Brotherhood. It cut electricity and water, too, and kidnapped one of the group's leaders. With great reluctance, the Brotherhood relented. The offensives came to a halt, and in April Lashio was handed back to the military. The regime was spared a battle for Mandalay. Myanmar's revolutionaries might be able to shrug off Chinese pressure if others were to provide more humanitarian assistance. But for much of the past four years Western countries' aid to pro-democracy groups has not met their needs. There has been no serious discussion of arming pro-Western groups. Humanitarian assistance is easier in legal terms, and would boost the groups by supporting their social role. But it has not been forthcoming: only 39% of the $1bn that the UN requested in humanitarian aid in 2024 was granted. With great difficulty, the United States' Congress appropriated $121m in additional cash for democratic groups. Instead of increasing this to compete with China for influence in Myanmar, the Trump administration's closure of USAID has curtailed it. What does China want to do with Myanmar? Over the past year China has pushed General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta chief, to hold an election at the end of 2025. Chinese diplomats hope that, following the vote, he will be elected president, shed his uniform and then hand over command of the army to a more reasonable figure who will push for peace. But an election held under the junta and without a ceasefire would be a sham. As great as China's influence is, it cannot compel General Min Aung Hlaing to give up power. It seems more likely that what China wants is a frozen conflict, giving it maximum leverage over all groups. Other approaches have been pondered. Thailand and India have backed the junta, and encouraged other countries to normalise relations with it. Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon and former Thai prime minister, has also led a drive to legitimise General Min Aung Hlaing, inviting him to summits at his grand hotel in Bangkok. These boosters ignore, however, the junta's parlous battlefield condition and the much greater levels of anger at the army than existed in earlier periods of army rule. Perhaps most promising is an effort tried out by Indonesia in 2023. That year its foreign minister at the time, Retno Marsudi, brought all four warring factions—the junta, the democratic resistance and both pro-democracy and China-friendly ethnic militias—to its capital for what are known as proximity talks. Each stayed at a different hotel, and Indonesian diplomats relayed messages between them. None of the groups was prepared to discuss the main matters then—and may not be willing to now, either. But if this war is to end at the negotiating table, it is a format that offers some chance of a resolution. Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
