Duterte backs off provocation with China over disputed islands

April 13 (UPI) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he will not travel to an island, the ownership of which is disputed with China, to celebrate his country's independence day.

Earlier this month Duterte announced plans to travel to Pag-asa Island, population 180, to plant the Philippine flag. The island is one of nine in the South China Sea to which both the Philippines and China have claimed ownership.

The body of water is known in the Philippines as the West Philippines Sea.

China's expansionist policy in waters off its shores have also ensnared several other countries in territorial disputes, including Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia in the South China Sea alone. China has claimed ownership of some 90 percent of the water and the dozens of tiny islands, many uninhabited, in a bid to exert more control over fishing territory and heavily used international trade shipping routes.

Duterte's about-face on Pag-asa came after China asked him not to travel to the small island, the president said.

"China said: 'What will happen if every head of state will go there to [assert their] claim?' They said if every head of state of contending parties there around the West Philippine Sea, they call it the [South] China Sea, will go there to plant the flag, there will likely be trouble," Duterte said in remarks to the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia, according to the Philippines Star.

An arbiter at the International Court at the Hague ruled in the Philippines' favor after the nation filed a territorial dispute over the nine islands in the South China Sea. China, however, rejected the ruling and maintains it owns Pag-asa and the others.