The Philippines’ Muddled Response to Latest South China Sea Confrontation

File image of Philippines Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro. Image via ABS-CBN.

Filipino policymakers can’t seem to agree on how to describe last week’s violent confrontation between the China Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy.

Over the weekend, we got word that the Philippine National Maritime Council determined that last Monday’s incident was “probably a misunderstanding or an accident.”

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by Eric Olander

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