The Philippines’ defence minister said on Monday that the country’s armed forces will resist China’s “dangerous and reckless behaviour” in territory claimed by Manila in the South China Sea.
“We will exert our utmost in order to fulfill our sworn mandate to protect our territorial integrity, sovereignty, and sovereign rights,” Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in a statement on a day when China accused a Philippine resupply ship of causing a slight collision in the strategic waterway.
China’s actions “are the true obstacles to peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Teodoro said.
Manila and Beijing, which have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, on Monday
exchanged accusations
over the collision during a Philippine resupply mission in the Second Thomas Shoal located within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone. China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
