Beijing Is Increasing Pressure on Philippines to Cede Territory, Says Defense Official

China said to be responding to President Marcos’s signing two measures strengthening Philippine sovereignty in the South China Sea.

A Chinese service boat scours the seabed searching for giant clams in the Scarborough Shoal, at a disputed area of the South China Sea, on April 22, 2019. Philippine coast guard via AP

The Chinese communist regime has stepped up its pressure on the Philippines to give up sovereign rights, days after the island nation’s president signed two maritime laws that angered Beijing, according to Filipino Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro.

“What we see is an increasing demand by Beijing for us to concede our sovereign rights in the area,” Teodoro said on Nov. 12 after meeting Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles, the fifth such meeting in a little over a year.