Marcos: Philippines not provoking conflict, 'poking the bear' with China

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Philippines was not deliberately provoking conflict or acting under the command of the United States in its efforts to assert its sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea

In an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday, Marcos said there is a need to defend the country's territory "since the threat has grown."

However, the president stressed that the government has not instigated any conflict or confrontation with China. "We're just trying to feed our people."

Relations between Manila and Beijing have deteriorated following incidents involving Philippine and Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea, including collisions and the firing of water cannons.

Marcos has also sought to deepen cooperation with the United States, while standing up Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

He, however, pointed out that the Philippines is not "acting at the behest of the United States."

"It's dangerous for one to think in terms of when something goes wrong, we'll run to 'Big Brother'. That's not the way we treat it at all. We do this because we feel that we have to do it," Marcos said.

When asked how confident he is that Washington will go to war with China over the sea row, Marcos responded: "That is precisely what we want to avoid."

"We want to do everything we possibly can together with our partners and allies to avoid that situation. This is not poking the bear. We're trying to do quite the opposite," he added.

Under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, the Philippines and the US agreed that an attack on one of them would be considered a threat to both and pledged to respond jointly.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Washington stands by its "ironclad" commitments to defend the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea.

Marcos said the defense agreement would only be invoked if the country faced an "existential threat." — Gaea Katreena Cabico with a report from Agence France-Presse