China calls on Manila to halt missile deployment in South China Sea

China on Wednesday called on Manila to change its wrongdoings of deploying the Typhon missile system on its soil and make a strategic choice that truly serves the fundamental interest of the country and its people.

The U.S. mid-range weapon system was deployed last year as part of an annual joint exercise between Washington and Manila. The missile system is a strategic offensive weapon that puts multiple Southeast Asian countries within its range.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said earlier that his government would remove the U.S. missile system from the Philippines if Beijing ended what he called "aggressive and coercive behavior" in the South China Sea.

"It is ridiculous and dangerous to link the South China Sea issue with the Typhon system," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, blasting Manila for breaching its commitment to shipping the temporarily deployed missile system out of the country after relevant military exercises.

The Philippines has worked with the U.S. to bring in this Typhon system, sending its national security and defense into the hands of others and introducing political confrontation and risk of an arms race into the region, which does no one good, the spokesman said.

China will not sit idly by when its security interests are harmed or threatened, and regional countries will by no means accept the move that goes against the trend of the times, Guo said.