Teodoro: China's Nine-Dash Line and Pacific Expansion Plan Behind Its Social Media Posts Against PH
MANILA — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said China's Nine-Dash Line claim and its expansion plan in the Pacific Ocean are the reasons behind its social media posts against the Philippines.
Teodoro said this on Thursday in an interview with DZBB.
"Ang nasa likod talaga noon, ang kontrol nila sa Nine-Dash Line. Dahil unang-una, gusto nilang solohin yung resources na nasa ilalim dyan. Pangalawa, gusto nila ma-isantabi na figuratively ang Pilipinas mula South China Sea hanggang sa dominasyon nila sa Pacific Ocean (The reason behind that is their control of the Nine-Dash Line. No. 1, they want to exploit the resources under it, and No. 2, they want to set the Philippines aside, figuratively, from the South China Sea, to dominate the Pacific Ocean)," Teodoro said.
China's Nine-Dash Line is what China has been using to claim over 90 percent of the South China Sea. It overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.
The 2016 ruling of an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) rejected the legal basis of China's sweeping claims to historic rights within the so-called Nine-Dash Line. It also affirmed the Philippines' maritime entitlements.
Teodoro said the Philippines is the biggest obstacle to China's maritime ambition. He also noted the expansive area from Batanes to Palawan, which holds resources and provides "control of sea lines of communication."
QUICK SUMMARY
What: Defense Secretary Teodoro says China's Nine-Dash Line claim and Pacific expansion plan are behind its social media posts against the Philippines
Where: Interview with DZBB; reported from Manila
When: Thursday
Impact on the Philippines: Teodoro described the Philippines as the biggest obstacle to China's maritime ambition and pointed to the resources and sea lines of communication in the area from Batanes to Palawan
Source: Philippine News Agency (PNA), by Priam Nepomuceno; photo courtesy of DND