Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday ordered troops to occupy
uninhabited islands and shoals it claims in the disputed South China
Sea, asserting Philippine sovereignty in an apparent change of tack
likely to anger China.
The
firebrand leader, who on the campaign trail joked that he would jet ski
to a Chinese man-made island in the South China Sea to reinforce
Manila's claim, also said he may visit a Philippine-controlled island to
raise the national flag.
"The
unoccupied, which are ours, let's live on it," Duterte told reporters
during a visit to a military base in Palawan, near the disputed waters.
"It
looks like everyone is making a grab for the islands there. So we
better live on those that are still unoccupied. What's ours now, we
claim it and make a strong point from there."
Duterte's
plan is unlikely to sit well with China, which lays claim to almost all
the South China Sea, especially as it comes amid a fast-warming
relationship in recent months.
China,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Vietnam contest all or
parts of the South China Sea. This has led to confrontations between
China and some of its neighbors over the strategic trade route.
Duterte's
comments came just ahead of a first summit meeting between U.S.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida on
Thursday and Friday. China's pursuit of territory in the South China Sea
will be among the pressing security issues on the agenda.
The
U.S. State Department declined comment on Duterte's remarks, but has in
the past urged rival South China Sea claimants to lower tensions and
resolve differences in accordance with international law.
Duterte
announced his "separation" from the United States in October, declaring
he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South
China Sea dispute through talks.
His
efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in the Hague ruled
Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea, in
themselves marked a reversal in foreign policy.
The
Philippines occupies nine "features", or islands and reefs, in the
South China Sea, including a World War II-vintage transport ship which
ran aground on Second Thomas Shoal in the late 1990s.
Asia
expert Bonnie Glaser at Washington's Center for Strategic and
International Studies think tank, said Duterte's remarks looked like
"bluster" comparable to his jet-ski remarks. "Vintage Duterte. All bark,
no bite," she wrote on Twitter.
"Duterte
seems to be under greater domestic pressure and criticism on maritime
issues," she added to Reuters. "I’m inclined to believe that his latest
comment is driven ... by domestic politics."
Duterte said he might visit the island of Thitu, the largest of the
Philippine-controlled islands in the Spratly archipelago, and build a
barracks for servicemen operating in the area.
The Philippines marks its independence day on June 12.
Thitu
is close to Subi Reef, one of seven man-made islands in the Spratlys
that China is accused of developing as military outposts.
Last
month, Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippines would
strengthen its facilities in the Spratlys by building a new port and
paving an existing rough airstrip.
Duterte
said last month it was pointless trying to challenge China's
fortification of its man-made islands and ridiculed the media for taking
his jet-ski comments seriously.
"We cannot stop them because they are building it with their mind fixed that they own the place. China will go to war," he said.
(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom
in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Bernadette Baum)
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