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'Something we cannot cross': Marcos vows to not 'concede' to any territorial claims in West PH Sea

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his arrival statement to members of his cabinet, various lawmakers, and consultants at the Villamor Airbase on January 5, 2023 after arriving from a state visit to China. Philippine News Agency, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/19/20230105-bbm-arrival-china-pna-3.jpg"/><figcaption>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his arrival statement to members of his cabinet, various lawmakers, and consultants at the Villamor Airbase on January 5, 2023 after arriving from a state visit to China. <em>Philippine News Agency, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. vowed he would not &quot;concede&quot; to any claims being made &quot;against&quot; the country&#x27;s territory, saying this is the &quot;red line&quot; in diplomacy.</p><p>In an interview with Bloomberg at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Marcos said Beijing and Manila are working towards establishing a <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/29/22/philippines-china-to-ink-deal-for-direct-communication-on-west-ph-sea" target="_blank">direct line</a> in cases of any incidents in the West Philippine Sea. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/01/19/23/watch-marcos-says-s-china-sea-dispute-keeps-me-up-at-night">WATCH: Marcos says S. China Sea dispute &#x27;keeps me up at night&#x27;</a></li></ul><p>&quot;We cannot concede any of the territorial claims that are being made against our established territory,&quot; said Marcos in an interview aired by RTVM. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2426637" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>&quot;That is the red line, that will not move and that is something we cannot cross because that is a very slippery road from there,&quot; he added. </p><p>Asked what the country is doing after the <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/15/22/chinese-vessels-seen-in-parts-of-west-philippine-sea" target="_blank">reported swarming of Chinese militias</a> in the West Philippine Sea, Marcos said the government has already sent diplomatic protests regarding this. </p><p>Marcos told Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and his state visit in China last week that &quot;we have to find a system so these sort of things do not happen.&quot; </p><p>&quot;If you&#x27;d look, we call them incidents that had been going on in the past few weeks, months. [It&#x27;s an] indication of poor communication between the two sides,&quot; he said, referring to the need to establish a direct communication line between governments on the disputed waters. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/13/23/china-seeks-partnership-with-local-fishing-villages">China proposing partnership with local fishing villages: National Security Adviser</a></li></ul><p>&quot;I suggested and I think we are going to establish it, is that we will have a line of communication that is higher up,&quot; noted Marcos. </p><p>Marcos Jr. has said that instead of a &quot;partnership,&quot; Manila and Beijing recently an agreement in which &quot;China will not stop our fishermen from fishing&quot; in the West Philippine Sea. </p><p>Former National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos earlier said China raised the possibility of partnership with the country&#x27;s fishing villages amid the ongoing tensions in the disputed waters. </p><p>Beijing claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade pass annually. Along with the Philippines, rival claimants are Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.</p><p>China has ignored a 2012 ruling from a UN-backed tribunal that its claim is without basis.</p><p>The President said the maritime issue is something that <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/01/19/23/watch-marcos-says-s-china-sea-dispute-keeps-me-up-at-night" target="_blank">keeps him up at night.</a> </p>

'We cannot concede any of the territorial claims that are being made against our established territory.'

'Something we cannot cross': Marcos vows to not 'concede' to any territorial claims in West PH Sea

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'Something we cannot cross': Marcos vows to not 'concede' to any territorial claims in West PH Sea

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 19, 2023 09:46 PM PHT

|

Updated Jan 19, 2023 11:21 PM PHT

Read More:

West Philippine Sea

South China Sea

Marcos

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr

diplomacy

China

Philippines

territorial claims

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