Amid sea row with China, PH should always side with unity—FVR

By: Yuji Vincent Gonzales - 8 years ago

Amid the increasing tension and militarization in the resource-rich West Philippine Sea, former president Fidel V. Ramos on Friday said the Philippines should always side with peace and not with war, despite Beijing’s reported placing of surface-to-air missiles in one of the disputed islands.

“The trend of the world, and this is articulated by the United Nations, is by 2030, (we are) one world one, community, one family. And we in the Philippine are for that,” Ramos said during the Pandesal forum at Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City.

READ: Aquino calls on int’l community to heed UN ruling on S. China Sea

Ramos made the remark following the recently concluded meeting between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was attended by President Benigno Aquino III, regarding regional security issues amid Beijing’s sweeping claims in the disputed areas.

Ramos said the country should consider its relations with both China and the United States.

READ: US, Asean hit China military buildup

“Our policy towards China relatedly to the US should be such that they will take care of our advantage as being in between the two superpowers—not only geographically but also culturally. There is no other nation can claim that advantage,” Ramos said in a forum in Quezon City.

“It is our advantage because the trend of the world now is no longer for a world war to happen. The weapons of mass destruction are so powerful that we would want these superpowers and others not anymore to be engaged in a war,” he added.

READ: US hits China militarization

Fox News first reported that China had deployed a surface-to-air missile system on Woody Island of the Paracels chain, one of the disputed areas in the region. Citing images from a civilian firm, the report said two batteries of eight missile launchers and a radar system arrived in the island within the past week. CDG