China has given an assurance that it is not targeting the Philippines when it adopted a controversial law allowing the Chinese Coast Guard to fire on foreign vessels.

Americans are turning Subic into a military base, making the Philippines vulnerable in case a war involving the United States breaks out, President Rodrigo Durerte said.

The United States takes its responsibilities to its treaty alliances including that with the Philippines “very seriously,” a Pentagon official said over the weekend.

Exactly one year ago, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Locsin to deliver a diplomatic note informing the US that he is unilaterally terminating the VFA.

The Philippines – under the Duterte administration – has so far filed a total of 60 diplomatic protests against China, including on its new law allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels plying the disputed South China Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a report yesterday.