(Outlawed) Philippine Communist Party declares war on Chinese companies
The leaders of the CPP have given a mandate to the armed wing (NPA) to target companies and projects linked to Beijing, which allegedly contribute to the looting and destruction of marine and natural resources. But Duterte and the Manila government are relaunching the alliance with the Chinese, defined of strategic "interest" for the nation.
Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Filipino Communist Party, outlawed by Manila, yesterday mandated its armed wing to target Chinese companies involved in infrastructure projects. State-owned enterprises linked to the government and the party, which have been blacklisted by the United States, are also to be targeted because they are behind the "militarization" of Beijing in the South China Sea.
The announcement comes six weeks after the position taken by the Manila government - the sworn enemy of the communist guerrillas of the last 50 years - which has reiterated that it does not want to follow Washington's directions while maintaining, if not strengthening, ties with the China. The target are companies and industries engaged in the construction of artificial islands and military installations in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, at the center of a long-standing dispute that also involves Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
At least one of the 24 companies subject to US sanctions is involved in infrastructure projects in the Philippines. In the note released yesterday, the Philippine Communist Party (CPP) did not make a clear reference to the Chinese companies in its sights, but stressed that they are involved in the construction of installations in Beijing and "the looting and destruction of marine resources in the Philippine Sea Western, in violation of national sovereignty ”.
“Some of these same Chinese companies are involved in some big-ticket infrastructure projects for the construction of mining roads and dams that are encroaching deeper and deeper into the ancestral lands of the national minorities and forests in various parts of the country,” the CPP said.
“These infrastructure projects not only displace thousands of peasants and minorities from their lands, they also wreak havoc [on] the natural ecosystem of the country’s remaining forests,” it added. Asked if this meant that Chinese firms would be targeted by the CPP’s New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas, group spokesman Marco Valbuena, said: “They and their armed … securities are targets.”
In early September, the administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte defiantly stated that it did not want to sever close ties with Chinese companies, which have invested billions of dollars in mega-projects. In this regard, presidential spokesman Harry Roque reiterated that the government intends to continue collaboration because it is "in the national interest" to complete leading initiatives that can contribute to the development of the nation.
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