China has issued numerous stern responses to the fact that the U.S. has refused to remove the Typhon missiles from the U.S. bases in the Philippines, which were originally only deployed there temporarily for exercises. Philippine President Bongbong Marcos has now issued a belligerent response to China, clearly displaying that he feels he has back-up from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio called the Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique A. Manalo, as well as the foreign secretaries of Japan and Australia, on his first official day in office, to stiffen their subservience to U.S. hostility to China.
“You know, let’s make a deal with China,” Marcos blustered. “Stop claiming our territory, stop harassing our fishermen and let them have a living, stop ramming our boats, stop water-cannoning our people, stop firing lasers at us, and stop your aggressive and coercive behavior, and I’ll return the Typhon missiles,” he said. “Stop all their aggressive acts, and I’ll take back everything.”
