(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines will protest China's opening of a maritime rescue center in the South China Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said, just days after President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman said the nation should be grateful for the move.
Locsin said he supports Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio's position that the Philippines must contest China's construction of the rescue center on Fiery Cross Reef, which Xinhua reported on Jan. 29. Carpio was part of the Philippine delegation which won a 2016 ruling that China's efforts to assert control over the South China Sea exceeded the law.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has built a web of artificial islands with runways and lighthouses to exert influence in the South China Sea, raising the ire of countries including the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, who also lay claim to the area.
“We will” protest if the reports turn out to be true, Locsin said on Twitter. “I however preferred engaging them openly on the floor of the UN General Assembly.” He said his department is awaiting National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon's assessment as the government can't rely on media accounts.
Duterte's spokesman Salvador Panelo last week said the Philippines should be “thankful” to China, saying a rescue center can help everybody.
--With assistance from Andreo Calonzo.
To contact the reporter on this story: Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Peter Vercoe, Linus Chua
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