China says US missile deployment in Philippines undermines peace

SHANGHAI - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the US deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Philippines "undermines regional peace and stability", the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

Speaking to South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul in New York on Saturday, Wang also called for avoiding "war or chaos on the Korean Peninsula", the ministry said in a post on its website.

The US deployed the Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, in April this year.

China has demanded its removal, and Russia has joined in condemning the first deployment of the system to the Indo-Pacific, accusing Washington of fueling an arms race.

Wang said the deployment "is not in the interests of regional countries".

The Philippines, southern neighbor to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory, is an important part of US strategy in Asia and would be an indispensable staging point for the military to aid Taipei in the event of a Chinese attack.

Wang said exchanges and cooperation between China and South Korea have become more active this year.

In a reply to GMA News Online, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said, "We should ask the Chinese foreign minister, 'What about the illegal building of a Chinese military base in Scarborough Shoal?'"

GMA News Online also contacted the Department of National Defense for comment and will update this story once they issue a statement.

The US however has no immediate plans to withdraw the Typhon mid-range missile system deployed in the Philippines despite the demand of China, Reuters earlier reported.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Wednesday said he wants the Typhon mid-range missile system to stay in the Philippines "forever."

"Kung ako ang masusunod, if I were given the choice, I would like to have the Typhon here in the Philippines forever dahil kailangan natin 'yan para sa depensa natin," Brawner told reporters.

(If it were up to me, if I were given the choice, I would like to have the Typhon missile system here in the Philippines forever because we need it for our defense.)

"Binanggit natin 'yung intention natin na kung puwede ay manatili 'yung Typhon dito sa Pilipinas. Wala pa, we're still waiting for their response," he added.

(We mentioned our intention to continue the deployment, if possible, of the Typhon missile system here in the Philippines. Nothing yet, we're still waiting for the response of the US.) —Reuters/with a report from Giselle Ombay/KG/BM, GMA Integrated News