Friendly threat?

President Duterte revealed that China threatened to go to war, if the country insisted on its territorial claims on islands we have occupied for decades. The conversation supposedly took place when Duterte attended the “One Belt, One Road” summit. Duterte informed President Xi Jinping that the islands such as Pagasa were ours, and that oil exploration would soon begin, as allowed by the country’s exclusive economic zone. But Jinping was quick to say that although relations between the Philippines and China have greatly improved and that they are now friends, they will go to war if we insist on the territorial claims. We have just been threatened with war by China, which apparently left Duterte speechless.

Is this the kind of “friend” we now have? One who will not hesitate to go to war with us should we assert what is rightfully ours? The Duterte administration does not waste time trumpeting the gains it has achieved by befriending China. The billions in dollars’ worth of pledges, enormous financial aid, loans for infrastructure and even freebies such as the offer of thousands of free rifles.

But make no mistake, President Xi Jinping just made it clear that China will use military force to enforce its claim on almost the whole South China Sea.

I am actually waiting for China to come up with a statement regarding this conversation between the two leaders, whether to deny or confirm that the threat of war did indeed take place.

So far it has been silent. It seems we have been put in our place by China. The Duterte administration has done everything to become cozy with China, with no less than the president himself heaping praise after praise.

And yet, this is what we get, a threat of war. If Duterte was direct in asserting the country’s rights over territory and benefiting from economic zones, Jinping was direct in threatening what they will do in response. No more talk, just a straightforward threat.

This comes at a time when Duterte has pushed away the country’s longtime allies such as the US, EU, and the UN, because of their criticism of his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs. But when a country directly threatens him with war, he had nothing to say.

We have pushed away friends who do not threaten us with war, and befriended one who is ready to do just that.

I guess our claims to whatever islands in the South China Sea already have a sword of Damocles hanging over them. We have been warned. But we’re friends, right? A friendly threat? That’s one big oxymoron right there. I guess we just have to keep looking at the money.