Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said there was no way to stop Chinese from fishing in his country’s exclusive economic zone and that he would not risk losing Philippine forces in a clash in the disputed South China Sea.
“When Xi says: ‘I will fish,’ who can prevent him?” Duterte said as he defended his non-confrontational approach to the Chinese government over the territorial disputes in his annual state of the nation address before a joint session of Philippine Congress.
He was referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Photo: AFP
“If I send my marines to drive away the Chinese fishermen, I guarantee you not one of them will come home alive,” Duterte said, adding that diplomatic talks with Beijing have allowed the return of Filipinos to disputed fishing grounds, where Chinese forces previously shooed them away.
Critics have repeatedly criticized Duterte, who has nurtured friendly ties with Beijing, for not standing up to China’s aggressive behavior in the disputed waters and deciding not to immediately seek Chinese compliance with an international arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s historic claims to virtually the entire sea.
China has refused to recognize the 2016 ruling.
The decision also found that China had breached its duty to respect the traditional fishing rights of Filipinos when Chinese forces blocked them from the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) off the northwestern Philippines in 2012.
The Philippines could also not deny Chinese fishers access to Scarborough, according to the ruling.
However, the decision did not specify any traditional fishing areas within the Philippines’ exclusive zone where the Chinese could be allowed to fish.
An exclusive economic zone is a 200 nautical mile (370.4km) stretch of water where a coastal state has exclusive rights to fish and exploit other resources as well as undersea gas and oil, based on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
On his battle against illegal drugs and corruption, Duterte asked Congress to reinstate the death penalty for drug-related crimes and economic plunder.
He said the drug menace, which he called a “social monster,” could not be crushed unless corruption is eliminated.
Duterte outlined problems he had resolved, sometimes through scare tactics, like the easing of a water shortage last summer in the capital, Manila, after he threatened to fire officials.
Although the annual speech is traditionally replete in protocol and formality, he injected sexual jokes, curses and threats that have been the trademark of his often-rambling speeches.
During the Manila water crisis, for example, he said he did not want to travel to the city.
“What if my girlfriend will not be able to take a bath? She will smell like hell,” he said.
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