If the Philippines hosts US medium-range missiles, it will create tension in the region and lead to an arms race, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during negotiations with Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo.
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The meeting between Wang Yi and Manalo took place on Friday in Vientiane.
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“The deployment of US medium-range missiles in the Philippines will create tension and confrontation in the region and provoke an arms race,” the official website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Wang Yi as saying.
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The diplomat noted that this situation is completely inconsistent with the interests of the Filipino people.
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Wang Yi stressed that today, China-Philippines relations are facing serious difficulties and challenges, are at a crossroads and are faced with a choice in which direction to develop. Speaking about the situation in the South China Sea, Wang Yi noted that China will take decisive retaliatory measures if the Philippines “fails to fulfill its obligations.”
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Earlier, a representative of the US Army’s Pacific Command said that the United States aims to deploy medium-range missile systems in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of this year. The US military deployed the MRC medium-range missile system to the Philippines in April as part of joint exercises between the two countries.
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The Chinese Foreign Minister also sharply criticized the deployment of the launcher in the Philippines at a meeting with his American counterpart on May 31, emphasizing that it poses a threat to regional security.
