Philippines to Remove US Missile System If China Ends ‘Coercive Behavior’

NEWSMAX | Published January 30, 2025

President Ferdinand Marcos said Thursday his government will remove a U.S. missile system from the Philippines if Beijing ends its “aggressive and coercive behavior” in the contested South China Sea and ceases claiming Filipino territory.

The U.S. military deployed the Typhon missile system in the northern Philippines last year as part of an annual joint exercise, and Filipino troops have been training with it, with plans to acquire the system as a means to protect Manila’s maritime interests.

Beijing’s forces have engaged in several confrontations with Philippine vessels in recent months over disputed reefs and waters in the strategically located South China Sea.

The U.S. midrange weapon system’s presence on Philippine soil has angered China, which has warned Manila was “inciting geopolitical confrontation and an arms race” in the region.

“I don’t understand the comments on the Typhon missiles. We don’t make any comments on their missile systems, and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have,” Marcos told reporters Thursday during a visit to the central city of Cebu.

“Let’s make a deal with China: Stop claiming our territory, stop harassing our fishermen and let them have a living, stop ramming our boats, stop water-cannoning our people, stop firing lasers at us, and stop your aggressive and coercive behavior,” Marcos said.

“If they stop doing all these things, I will return” the Typhon system to the United States, he added.

Manila and Washington are bound by a mutual defense pact, and the recent South China Sea clashes have sparked fears the U.S. military could be drawn into a war with China.

The Philippine military said this week another of its platoons would be trained on using the Typhon system in February, ahead of annual joint drills with the United States.

 

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SOURCE: www.newsmax.com

RELATED: Philippine president offers deal to China: Stop sea aggression and I’ll return missiles to US

FILE – In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appear together during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Jan. 4, 2023.
VOICE OF AMERICA | Published January 30, 2025

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. offered on Thursday to remove a U.S. missile system from the Philippines if China halts what he called its “aggressive and coercive behavior” in the disputed South China Sea.

The U.S. Army installed the Typhon mid-range missile system in the northern Philippines in April last year to support what the longtime treaty allies described as training for joint combat readiness.

China has repeatedly demanded that the Philippines remove the missile system, saying it was “inciting geopolitical confrontation and an arms race.”

Asked by reporters about China’s criticism of the missile system, Marcos said he did not understand the Chinese position because the Philippines does not comment on China’s missile systems which “are a thousand times more powerful than what we have.”

“Let’s make a deal with China: Stop claiming our territory, stop harassing our fishermen and let them have a living, stop ramming our boats, stop water cannoning our people, stop firing lasers at us and stop your aggressive and coercive behavior, and we’ll return the typhoon missiles,” Marcos told reporters in central Cebu province.

“Let them stop everything they’re doing and I’ll return all of those,” he said.

Chinese officials did not immediately comment on the Philippine leader’s remarks.

The U.S. Army’s mobile Typhon missile system, which consists of a launcher and at least 16 Standard Missile-6 and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, was repositioned about two weeks ago from the northern Philippines to a strategic area nearer the capital, Manila, in consultation with Philippine defense officials, a senior Philippine official told The Associated Press.

The Philippine official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss the sensitive issue in public, said the U.S. missile system is now nearer an area where Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces have been involved in increasingly tense faceoffs in the South China Sea.

Tomahawk missiles can travel over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), which puts parts of mainland China within their range. The missile system will remain in the Philippines indefinitely, the Philippine official said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said last week that the Philippines is “creating tensions and antagonism in the region and inciting geopolitical confrontation and an arms race” by allowing the U.S. missile system to be positioned in its territory.

“This is a highly dangerous move and an extremely irresponsible choice,” Mao said.

 

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SOURCE: www.voanews.com

 

 

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