Top government official says there was an agreement with China to maintain the status quo over the South China Sea. Local media have reported that the reason why China has recently stepped up its sabotage of Philippine ships is that this agreement has been undermined by the current Marcos administration.
Since last year, there have been a number of incidents in the area around Second Thomas Reef, where Philippine government vessels have been hit by water cannons or collided with Chinese Coast Guard vessels. In this regard, Harry Roque, who served as presidential spokesperson in the former Duterte administration, gave an interview to NHK on the 5th.