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'Our friendship will end here:' Duterte tells China he won't withdraw ships from West PH Sea

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Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/05/14/20190425-duterte-china-mnib-7.jpg"/><figcaption>President Rodrigo Duterte and People&#x27;s Republic of China President Xi Jinping pose for posterity prior to the start of the bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 25, 2019. <em>King Rodriguez, Presidential Photo/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — After drawing flak over his remark that his campaign promise for fishermen in disputed seas was a joke, President Rodrigo Duterte warned Beijing that he would not withdraw Philippine ships from disputed waters, even if China killed him. </p><p>In a taped meeting that aired on Friday, Defense Secretary Lorenzana told Duterte that the Philippines had 2 ships in the West Philippine Sea, which were roving around Kalayaan islands and Mischief Reef. </p><p>&quot;I’d like to put notice sa China. May 2 barko ako d’yan (I have 2 ships there)… I am not ready to withdraw,&quot; the President said. <br/> <br/>The Philippine ships &quot;will not move an inch backward,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;Hindi talaga ako aatras. Patayin mo man ako kung patayin mo ako, dito ako. Dito magtatapos ang ating pagkakaibigan,&quot; Duterte said, addressing China. </p><p>(I will not retreat. Kill me if you want to kill me, I will be here. This is where our friendship will end.)</p><p>This, two days after a <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/12/21/mad-at-duterte-west-ph-sea-jet-ski-quip-fisherman-says-president-a-joke">Filipino fisherman</a> in Infanta, Pangasinan took offense at Duterte&#x27;s recent clarification that his 2016 campaign statement of riding a jet ski and challenging Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea was just a &quot;pure joke.&quot; </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=1683780" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Beijing refuses to recognize a 2016 arbitral ruling that junked its &quot;historical&quot; claims to about 90 percent of the South China Sea, within which is the smaller West Philippine Sea. <br/> <br/>Duterte forged friendlier relations with China upon assuming power in 2016, even setting aside the arbitral award in favor of economic aid and investments from Beijing.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/11/21/malacanang-not-okay-what-can-we-do-scarborough-china">Palace: China militarization in PH waters, &#x27;not okay, but what can we do?&#x27;</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/11/21/duterte-aquino-roque-west-philippine-sea-china-quiet">Palace: Duterte wants hush on sea dispute with China</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Ayoko makipag-away sa China, ayoko sa lahat. Inuulit ko, may utang na loob kami. Malaki ang utang na loob,&quot; said Duterte. </p><p>(I do not want war with China, that&#x27;s what I don&#x27;t like the most, I repeat, we have a debt of gratitude. The debt of gratitude is great.)<br/> <br/>Manila and Beijing&#x27;s maritime dispute flared again in March, after some 200 Chinese ships swarmed Philippine waters. <br/> <br/>The Department of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly complained to China in recent weeks about a &quot;swarming and threatening presence&quot; of Chinese vessels in the Philippine EEZ and has demanded they be withdrawn.<br/> <br/>The Philippines has recently boosted its presence in the South China Sea through &quot;sovereignty patrols,&quot; in a show of defiance that critics say has been lacking under pro-China Duterte, who has drawn domestic flak for his refusal to stand up to Beijing.</p><p>Experts say China&#x27;s fleet fishing boats and coastguard are central to its strategic ambitions in the South China Sea, maintaining a constant presence that complicates fishing and offshore energy activities by other coastal states.</p><p>A retired Philippine Supreme Court justice had warned that China&#x27;s swarming of the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) in the Kalayaan Island Group since March could be a prelude to occupation and building of a military base, as Beijing did on Mischief Reef in 1995.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/24/21/china-incursion-in-julian-felipe-reef-may-be-prelude-to-occupation-carpio">READ: China incursion in Julian Felipe Reef may be prelude to occupation: Carpio</a></li></ul><p>Chinese officials previously denied there are militia aboard its fishing boats as it asserts its illegal claim over almost the entire South China Sea.</p><div><strong>– With a report from Reuters</strong></div><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=1684878" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar"><em>Video courtesy of PTV</em></div>

<p>President Rodrigo Duterte warned Beijing that he would not withdraw Philippine ships from disputed waters, even if China killed him. <br /> </p>

President Rodrigo Duterte warned Beijing that he would not withdraw Philippine ships from disputed waters, even if China killed him.

'Our friendship will end here:' Duterte tells China he won't withdraw ships from West PH Sea

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'Our friendship will end here:' Duterte tells China he won't withdraw ships from West PH Sea

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 14, 2021 01:11 PM PHT

|

Updated May 14, 2021 02:37 PM PHT

Read More:

West Philippine Sea

China

Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone

China Philippines

China Philippines relations

Duterte

Duterte China

Duterte foreign policy

China incursion

South China Sea

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