Beijing rejects the 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration which said its expansive maritime claims had no legal basis.
The Philippine military presented the president with several options on its operations in the South China Sea, but they will not result in significant changes to how resupply operations were being carried out, Brawner said, without giving details.”The end goal is still to be able to bring supplies to our troops … to be able to practise freedom of navigation and overflight, without necessarily escalating the situation you’re in,” Brawner said.
In the same briefing, Brawner said the Philippines’ armed forces will also coordinate with a senator who claimed to have knowledge of a Chinese plan to target her country with hypersonic missiles.
Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister and head of the senate foreign relations committee, created a stir earlier this week with her video, posted on Tik Tok. She has provided no evidence for the claim.
The Chinese foreign ministry said it does not know where the claims came from, but maintained Beijing adheres to a defensive national defence policy and does not pose a threat to any country.
“Of course, we will never sit idly by and watch our legitimate rights and interests and regional peace and stability being violated and threatened,” Mao said.
