Is President Rodrigo Duterte moving away from his close friendship with China? Recently, he has strongly taken issue over stern radio warnings by the Chinese to Philippine military aircraft flying near Beijing’s facilities built on artificial islands in the disputed Spratlys and surrounding waters. The President said that such warnings are not proper among friendly nations, since the Armed Forces of the Philippines does not pose a threat to China’s installations. He also admonished Beijing that reclamation around shoals and reefs does not give it territorial control over the waters and air space around and above the artificial islands. China’s foreign ministry rolled out its usual retort that its forces were asserting its historical territorial rights over nearly the entire South China Sea and all land features in it, under its “nine-dash” diagram.

Saludo, R. (2018, August 23). Duterte: There will be trouble ‘if China grabs oil and uranium’. The Manila Times, pp. A1, A5.