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Marcos dares China on US Typhon missiles: Stop claiming our territory, I'll return the missiles


Marcos China Typhon missiles WPS West Philippine Sea

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday that he is willing to pull out the Typhon missiles of the United States in the country only if China will stop its aggressions in the West Philippine Sea.

Marcos made the statement after Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called on the Philippine government to “correct the wrongdoing as soon as possible” by pulling out the missile launchers that were reportedly relocated.

“Well, I don’t understand the comments on the Typhon missile system. We don’t make any comments on their missile systems, and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have,” Marcos told reporters.

"Let’s make a deal with China: Stop claiming our territory, stop harassing our fishermen and let them have a living, stop ramming our boats, stop water cannoning our people, stop firing lasers at us, and stop your aggressive and coercive behavior, and I'll return the Typhon missiles. Itigil nila ‘yung ginagawa nila, ibabalik ko lahat ‘yan. [Once they stop what they are doing, I will return everything],” he added.

A senior Philippine government source earlier said that the US military has moved its Mid-Range Capability missile system from Laoag airfield to another location in Luzon, Reuters reported last week.

The Tomahawk cruise missiles in the launchers can hit targets in both China and Russia from the Philippines while the SM-6 missiles can strike air or sea targets more than 200 kilometers away, the report said.

According to the Philippine official, the redeployment would help determine where and how fast the missile battery could be moved to a new firing position.

But the Philippine Army said the Typhon missile launchers will not be used for live-fire exercises in the upcoming military drills. They will be used instead during training on payload delivery system.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has also denounced China’s demand saying that “no single entity who can dictate how we would do our deployments in terms of our defenses.” — RSJ/VBL, GMA Integrated News

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