The Philippines has been butting heads with China for years over the disputed South China Sea, but increasingly the Southeast Asian country appears to be preparing for another potential battleground: Taiwan.
Earlier this week, defense chief Gilberto Teodoro visited a naval detachment and ordered a military buildup on Mavulis, the northernmost island of the province of Batanes, which Teodoro described as the "spearhead of the Philippines."
China wasn’t pleased with the development: in a press conference Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned that the Philippines must "tread carefully and don't play with fire on this [Taiwan] question to avoid being manipulated and eventually hurt."
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