00:00 China is behaving like a schoolyard bully toward smaller countries, the Philippine defence
00:05 secretary told CNN Friday during an exclusive interview in which he warned his nation, and
00:11 the wider world, had to stand up to Beijing's territorial expansion in the South China Sea.
00:17 "I cannot think of any clearer case of bullying than this," said Philippine Secretary of National
00:23 Defence Gilberto Teodoro Jr. "It's not the question of stealing your lunch money, but
00:29 it's really a question of stealing your lunch bag, your chair and even enrolment in school."
00:34 His comments follow increasingly assertive moves by the Philippines to protect its claim
00:39 to shoals in the South China Sea during more than a month of high-stakes maritime drama.
00:45 While tensions between China and the Philippines over the highly contested and strategic waterway
00:50 have festered for years, confrontations have spiked this summer, renewing regional fears
00:56 that a mistake or miscalculation at sea could trigger a wider conflict, including with the
01:01 United States.
01:03 The region is widely seen as a potential flashpoint for global conflagration and the recent confrontations
01:09 have raised concerns among Western observers of potentially developing into an international
01:14 incident if China, a global power, decides to act more forcefully against the Philippines,
01:21 a US treaty ally.
01:23 Conflict incidents have involved standoffs between China's Coast Guard, what Manila
01:28 says are "shadowy" Chinese maritime militia boats and tiny wooden Philippine fishing vessels,
01:34 Chinese water cannons blocking the resupply of a shipwrecked Philippine military outpost,
01:39 and a lone Filipino diver cutting through a floating Chinese barrier.
01:43 Teodoro characterised the Philippines' refusal to back down in the waters within its 200-nautical-mile
01:50 exclusive economic zone as a fight for the very existence of the Philippines.
01:54 "We're fighting for our fisher folk, we're fighting for our resources, we're fighting
01:59 for our integrity as an archipelagic state a broken bar our existence as the Republic
02:04 of the Philippines is vital to this fight," Teodoro said in a sit-down interview at the
02:10 Department of National Defence in Manila.
02:12 "It's not for us, it's for the future generations too.
02:16 And if we don't stop, China is going to creep and creep into what is within our sovereign
02:21 jurisdiction, our sovereign rights and within our territory," he said, adding that Beijing
02:27 won't stop until it controls the whole South China Sea.
02:30 Beijing says it is safeguarding its sovereignty and maritime interests in the South China
02:36 Sea and warned the Philippines this week not to make provocations or seek troubles.
02:41 It accused Philippine fishing and coast guard vessels of illegal entry into the area.
02:46 China claims indisputable sovereignty over almost all 1.3 million square miles of the
02:53 South China Sea, and most of the islands and sandbars within it, including many features
02:58 that are hundreds of miles from mainland China.
03:02 Along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan also hold competing claims.
03:08 Over the past two decades China has occupied a number of reefs and atolls across the South
03:14 China Sea, building up military installations, including runways and ports, which the Philippines
03:20 says challenges its sovereignty and fishing rights as well as endangering marine biodiversity
03:26 in the resource-rich waterway.
03:28 In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favour of the Philippines in
03:34 a landmark maritime dispute, which concluded that China has no legal basis to claim historic
03:40 rights to the bulk of the South China Sea.
03:43 But Beijing has ignored the decision and continues to expand its presence in the waterway.
03:49 What's at stake?
03:50 In his first sit-down TV interview with an international news outlet since he took the
03:55 position in June, Teodoro was keen to stress whatever happens in the South China Sea impacts
04:01 the globe.
04:02 Crucially, the waterway is vital to international trade with trillions of dollars in global
04:07 shipping passing through it each year.
04:10 It's also home to vast fertile fishing grounds upon which many lives and livelihoods depend,
04:16 and beneath the waves lie huge reserves of natural gas and oil that competing claimants
04:21 are vying for.
04:22 With nations already suffering from inflation brought about by Russia's war in Ukraine,
04:28 there are concerns that any slowdown in travel and transporting of goods in the South China
04:33 Sea would result in significant impact to the global economy.
04:37 It will choke one of the most vital supply chain waterways in the whole world, it will
04:42 choke international trade, and it will subject the world economy, particularly in supply
04:47 chains to their whim, Teodoro said, adding that if this were to happen, the whole world
04:53 will react.
04:54 The defence secretary warned that smaller nations, including regional partners, rely
04:59 on international law for their survival.
05:02 Though they need China, they need Russia, they see that they too may become a victim
05:06 of bullying.
05:07 If they, China, close off the South China Sea, perhaps the next target may be the Straits
05:13 of Malacca and then the Indian Ocean, Teodoro said.
05:18 Risk of conflict.
05:19 "Only a few years ago the Philippines was treading a much more cautious path with its
05:23 huge neighbour China.
05:25 But since taking office last year, Philippine President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr has
05:31 taken a stronger stance over the South China Sea than his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.
05:37 On Friday, he defended the Philippine Coast Guard's removal earlier this week of a floating
05:42 barrier installed by China in the south-east portion of Bajo de Mazinloc, also known as
05:48 the Scarborough Shoal.
05:50 A disputed area, the shoal a small but strategic reef and fertile fishing ground 130 miles
05:56 (200 km) west of the Philippine island of Luzon.
06:01 Marcos said his administration will not allow foreign entities to put up a barrier that
06:06 is within the Philippines, according to the official Philippine news agency, PNA.
06:11 "We are not looking for trouble.
06:13 What we will do is continue defending the Philippines, the maritime territory of the
06:18 Philippines, the rights of our fishermen who have been fishing there for hundreds of years,"
06:24 Marcos said in an interview, while visiting the island of Siorjao.
06:28 "We avoid trouble, we avoid heated exchange but our defence of Philippine territory is
06:34 strong," Marcos added, according to PNA.
06:37 Marcos has also strengthened US relations that had frayed under Duterte, with the two
06:42 allies touting increased cooperation and joint patrols in the South China Sea in the future.
06:48 In April, the Philippines identified the locations of four new military bases the US will gain
06:54 access to, as part of an expanded defence agreement analysts say is aimed at combating
07:01 China.
07:02 Washington has condemned Beijing's recent actions in the contested sea and threatened
07:07 to intervene under its mutual defence treaty obligations if Philippine vessels came under
07:12 armed attack there.
07:13 US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Lindsay Ford reiterated Washington's commitment
07:19 to the mutual defence treaty in testimony before a US House subcommittee on Tuesday.
07:25 She said the treaty covers not only the Philippine armed forces, but also its Coast Guard and
07:30 civilian vessels and aircraft.
07:32 "We have said repeatedly and continue to say that we stand by those commitments absolutely,"
07:38 Ford said.
07:39 Foreign Secretary Teodoro has concerns about a possible escalation because of the dangerous
07:45 and reckless manoeuvring of Chinese vessels but he was clear that any incident a accidental
07:50 or otherwise either blame would lie with China squarely on their shoulders.
07:54 And he called global powers to help pressure Beijing over its moves in the South China
07:59 Sea.
08:00 "Peace and stability in that one place in the world will generate some relief and comfort
08:05 to everyone," he said.As part of the Marcos administration's commitment to boost the
08:10 Philippines' defence and monitoring capabilities in the South China Sea, Teodoro said further
08:16 air and naval assets have been ordered.
08:18 "There will be more patrol craft coming in, more rotary aircraft and we are studying the
08:24 possibility to acquiring multi-role fighters," he said, adding that would make a difference
08:29 in our air defence capabilities.
08:32 Preferring cooler heads to prevail, Teodoro said that diplomacy would provide a way forward
08:37 providing Chinese leader Xi Jinping complies with international law.
08:42 "Filipinos I believe are always willing to talk, just as long that talk does not mean
08:47 whispers in a backroom, or shouting at each other, meaning to say there must be substantial
08:53 talks, open, transparent and on a rules-based basis," he said, while also adding that talks
09:00 cannot be used as a delaying tactic by Beijing.
09:04 The Philippines, he said, has no choice but to stand up to China because otherwise we
09:09 lose our identity and integrity as a nation.
09:12 But conflict, he added, was not the answer or desired outcome.
09:17 "Standing up doesn't mean really going to war with China, heaven's number.
09:21 We don't want that.
09:23 But we have to stand our ground when our ground is up."
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