{"id":225144,"date":"2019-07-30T23:34:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T03:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=225144"},"modified":"2019-07-30T23:34:48","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T03:34:48","slug":"palace-wont-take-chinas-words-on-sea-row-at-face-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/07\/30\/palace-wont-take-chinas-words-on-sea-row-at-face-value\/","title":{"rendered":"Palace won\u2019t take China\u2019s words on sea row at \u2018face value\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark after Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said that China will \u201cnot take the first shot\u201d amid rising tension in the disputed waters. (File Photo<\/a>: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday said it will not take statements made by Chinese officials at \u201cface value\u201d especially in relation to the country\u2019s claims on the disputed South China Sea.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark after Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said that China will \u201cnot take the first shot\u201d amid rising tension in the disputed waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not take words of other countries on their face value. The President will always think beyond those words,\u201d Panelo said in a Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President is mandated to protect the security of this country, as well as the Filipino people, hence he will anticipate what may come out of any aggressive action that this country may undertake vis-\u00e0-vis the conflict in that area,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Asked if the Palace also takes Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s earlier warning to President Rodrigo Duterte that there would be \u201ctrouble\u201d if the Philippines would undertake oil explorations in the West Philippine Sea at \u201cface value\u201d, Panelo replied: \u201cWe took it as an anticipation of what may happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven without those saying that, we always think of the security of the Filipino people,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile, reiterated that the best way to resolve the sea row between the Philippines and China is through bilateral negotiations.<\/p>\n

He earlier said bilateral negotiations are meant to ensure the safety of the Filipinos from possible armed conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will repeat our position. We said that the conflict in that region will be the subject of continuous negotiation between the two countries. And by such mechanism, we hope to solve and\/or resolve the conflict, whatever they are,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

During the 92nd founding anniversary celebration of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Makati on Monday, Zhao stressed China’s principle of \u201cdefense, self-defense and post-strike response.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChina adopts a military strategy of active defense which adheres to the principle of defense, self-defense and post-strike response. Meaning we will not take the first shot,\u201d Zhao said.<\/p>\n

Zhao said China develops its military to defend the country, provide the people with a peaceful environment, and ensure its citizens are free from the disasters and calamities of war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday said it will not take statements made by Chinese officials at \u201cface value\u201d especially in relation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":186205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225145,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225144\/revisions\/225145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}