Pro-China X (formerly Twitter) accounts are running a coordinated campaign against President Marcos Jr. and the Philippines’ West PH Sea efforts while amplifying content favoring VP Sara Duterte.
China is attempting to create a buffer zone in the South China Sea, militarizing artificial islands to keep away the US and its allies from patrolling the strategic waterway where about $3 trillion worth of annual trade passes.
Tokyo wanted countries in the region to cooperate and ensure economic self-sufficiency and end European and American dominance and influence from the Communist Soviet Union.
Rodrigo Duterte’s six years in power were characterized by fear of a secret and parallel organization that emerged within the national police to carry out the genocidal war on drugs.
There is an urgent need to conclude a legally binding, rules-based Code of Conduct to avoid conflict in the South China Sea, transforming the area into a sea of peace and cooperation.