Defense Secretary Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. addressed China's objection to the deployment of various US military assets in the Philippines, dismissing Beijing’s concerns as unnecessary.
“Wala silang pakialam 'dun, bakit sila nagde-deploy din sa ibang mga lugar. Eh ano sa akin kung magalit sila?” Teodoro told reporters in an ambush interview at Camp Aguinaldo on Friday. “Ang importante huwag magalit ang taumbayan ng Pilipinas sa atin.”
(“They don’t care about that — why are they also deploying in other places? So what if they get angry?” “What’s important is that the Filipino people don’t get angry at us.”)
China earlier objected to the deployment of a US-made Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system, also known as the Typhon launcher, in the country. It argued that the Philippines' approval of the Typhon system would “incite geopolitical confrontation and an arms race.”
In January, Beijing demanded the removal of the missile system from Philippine territory.
In April, the US Marine Corps’ 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment (3D MLR) confirmed the first-ever deployment of the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) to the Philippines. The system was initially positioned in Northern Luzon and the Batanes Islands as part of the 40th iteration of the annual Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) military exercises between the US and the Philippines.
China criticized the arrival of the high-precision, anti-ship NMESIS launchers and other “strategic and tactical weapons,” claiming they “destabilize the region.”
The NMESIS system is capable of striking targets more than 185 kilometers away with sea-skimming precision and radar-evading stealth. It is designed for both coastal defense and sea denial operations.
China’s Foreign Ministry also issued a warning to “those who play with fire” regarding the Taiwan issue, which Beijing considers a “red line.”