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Anti-China protests in the Philippines mark third anniversary of Manila’s South China Sea legal victory
- Protesters staged a rally in front of the Chinese consulate, while a survey found most Filipinos want the country to take back China-controlled islands in the disputed waterway
- But while President Duterte has been criticised for his soft stance on Beijing following the Hague’s 2016 ruling, his net satisfaction rating has gone up
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Dozens of protesters on Friday staged a rally in front of the Chinese consulate in Manila as the Philippines marked the third anniversary of its arbitral victory over China at The Hague, which rejected Beijing’s historical claims to resources in the South China Sea.
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They condemned President Rodrigo Duterte’s actions since the legal win as “unconstitutional” and called for his impeachment, while urging China to “get out” of the disputed waterway,
While presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo on Friday defended Duterte’s response to the ruling, most Filipinos agree with the protesters’ stance, according to a survey by private pollster Social Weather Stations.
The June 22 poll, also released Friday, found that 93 per cent of respondents thought it was important that the Philippines regain control of the islands occupied by China in South China Sea, while 89 per cent said “it is not right for the government to leave China alone with its infrastructure and military presence in the claimed territories”.
The landmark 2016 ruling invalidated the historical basis for China’s nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea, as Beijing had agreed to be part of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). It also ruled that China had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights by interfering with its fishing and petroleum exploration and constructing artificial islands in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
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