President Ferdinand Marcos said Thursday his government will remove a U.S. missile system from the Philippines if Beijing ends its "aggressive and coercive behavior" in the contested South China Sea and ceases claiming Filipino territory.
The US military deployed the Typhon missile system in the northern Philippines last year as part of an annual joint exercise, and Filipino troops have been training with it, with plans to acquire the system as a means to protect Manila's maritime interests.
Beijing's forces have engaged in several confrontations with Philippine vessels in recent months over disputed reefs and waters in the strategically located South China Sea.
The US mid-range weapon system's presence on Philippine soil has angered China, which has warned Manila was "inciting geopolitical confrontation and an arms race" in the region.
"I don't understand the comments on the Typhon missiles. We don't make any comments on their missile systems, and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have," Marcos told reporters Thursday during a visit to the central city of Cebu.
"Let's make a deal with China: 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," Marcos said.
"If they stop doing all these things, I will return" the Typhon system to the United States, he added.
Manila and Washington are bound by a mutual defence pact, and the recent South China Sea clashes have sparked fears the US military could be drawn into a war with China.
The Philippine military said this week another of its platoons would be trained on using the Typhon system in February, ahead of annual joint drills with key ally the United States.
© Agence France-Presse