Íts reported that he said they can not stop China...
YASAY SAYS WE ‘CANNOT STOP CHINA’ ON MILITARIZING WEST PH SEA
Posted on December 19, 2016
Photo by Noel Celis.
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The Philippines cannot stop China if it is indeed “militarizing” the Spratly Islands in the disputed West Philippine Sea, said Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr.
When asked if the DFA will issue a diplomatic protest or seek clarification from China regarding the reported “militarization” of the Spratlys, Yasay said:
“There is nothing that we can do about that now, whether or not it is being done for purposes of further militarizing these facilities that they have put up.”
“We cannot stop China at this point in time and saying do not put that up, we will continue to pursue peaceful means at which all of these can be prevented,” Yasay added.
“Let them take whatever action is necessary in the pursuit of their national interest is concerned and we will leave it at that. For the Philippines, we have our bilateral engagements with China,” Yasay said.
On December 14, a US-based think tank reported that China has apparently installed “significant” defensive weapons on artificial islands in the Spratlys.
The latest images of the Spratlys, released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), showed a series of hexagonal structures now in place on each of 7 islets.