PH says no promise made to China on withdrawal of Typhon missile launcher

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National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya also says that the Typhon missile is only meant for defense and stresses that the Philippines 'adheres to its pacifist Constitution which renounces war as an instrument of national policy'

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines did not promise China that it would withdraw the United States’ Typhon missile system, National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said on Friday, February 14.

Malaya made the statement in response to Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, who had claimed that the Philippines had “breached its commitments” that the Typhon missile would only be temporarily stationed in the country.

“The Philippines never promised the People’s Republic of China  that we would withdraw the Typhon missile system,” Malaya said in a news briefing of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.

Malaya said that the Typhon missile was only meant for defense. He stressed that the Philippines “adheres to its pacifist Constitution which renounces war as an instrument of national policy.”

Malaya also reiterated the conditions earlier set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the withdrawal of the Typhon missiles as demanded by China: “If the People’s Republic of China will stop its illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions in the West Philippine Sea, then he offered the PRC a deal, the President will remove the Typhon missile system immediately from Philippine soil,” Malaya said.

The Typhon, or MRC Launcher, was first brought to the Philippines and deployed in April 2024 to Ilocos Norte, which has a coastline that spans the West Philippine Sea and waters facing Taiwan, for the bilateral army-to-army Salaknib exercises. It has since been deployed to an undisclosed location. 

The Tomahawk cruise missiles in the launchers can hit targets in both China and Russia from the Philippines, while the SM-6 missiles it also carries can strike air or sea targets more than 200 km (165 miles) away.

On Friday, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for the Chinese defense ministry, said that the Philippines was not “only giving up its own security and national defense to others, but also introducing the risks of geopolitical confrontation and arms race into the region.” 

The missile system is a “strategic offensive weapon” and the Philippine side had “repeatedly broken its promises and catered to the US side in introducing this system,” he added.

Marcos earlier wondered aloud why China was complaining about the Typhon missiles stationed in the Philippines when “we don’t make any comments on their missile system, and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have.” – With reports from Reuters/Rappler.com