On March 4, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos J. said he wanted to have a direct line of communication with Chinese President Xi Jinping to "avoid the risk of conflict" in the East Sea.
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| Philippine President Marcos Jr. (right) visited Beijing in January 2023. The photo was taken when Mr. Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping reviewed the honor guard on January 4, 2023. (Source: THX) |
Australian national broadcaster ABC reported that speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Australia Summit in Melbourne (Australia), the Philippine President expressed concern that just one incident in the territorial waters could cause a wider conflict.
“The possibility of conflict is much higher now than it was before,” Mr. Marcos said. “We are worried because it may not be triggered by a strategic decision by anyone who says, ‘We are going to war,’ but by some military personnel making a mistake or some actions being misunderstood.”
When asked how to do that, the leader offered a solution that he said had worked for other leaders before.
The Philippine head of state cited that at the height of the Cold War, then US President John F Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev established a direct line of communication to be used when necessary, amid nuclear tensions at an all-time high.
Mr. Marcos affirmed that he wanted a similar line of communication with the Chinese President and proposed this in January 2023 in Beijing.
According to the leader, the hotline "is so that if there is any message that needs to be sent from one head of state to another, we can be assured that the message will reach them."
However, so far, the Philippine President has not been able to realize this proposal.
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