Philippine - Flashpoint is South China Sea

 

 Flashpoint is South China Sea, not Taiwan, says Philippine envoy to U.S.

WASHINGTON -- The South China Sea "is the flashpoint, not Taiwan," Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippine ambassador to the U.S., told Nikkei Asia in an interview on Thursday. "[If] anything happens in our area, it's like the beginning of another war, world war."
 

His comments come as skirmishes between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the South China Sea intensify.
 
The repeated use of water cannons by Chinese vessels over the weekend has only underscored the disappointment Manila felt after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. tried to manage tensions in the critical waterway during an encounter with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in California last month.
 
"[Marcos] wanted to show that 'I'm willing to talk to you.' But it doesn't look like President Xi was in the mood to have anything like that," Romualdez said.
 
Xi "didn't say anything," Romualdez recalled of the leaders' meeting. "He just listened, and then he just said, 'We'll just let our defense and our diplomats talk about this.'"