Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday pinpointed China as the largest smuggler of illegal drugs into Manila, accusing Beijing of coddling major drug lords and drug traffickers.

Duterte, who has launched a campaign against drug lords as part of his ruthless anti-crime program, accused Beijing for the first time of harboring big-time drug lords who smuggle drugs into Manila.

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"Where is the big fish [in illegal drugs]? If you want them, go to China. Look for them there," he told soldiers and police during a visit to a military camp.

Drug war

Duterte said he planned to talk to the Chinese ambassador to ask for assistance in capturing the mainland-based drug traffickers, admitting that Manila could not just go to China and fight the drug war.

"I wanted to talk to the ambassador. That is how serious it is. Now, how do I fight this? We cannot just go there and just declare war," he pointed out.

Less than a month in office, Duterte has explicitly named China for the first time as one of the countries harboring major drug lords who smuggle drugs into the country.

Drug trafficking

Duterte had stated maintained that most of the illegal drugs smuggled into  Manila came from China. He said that many Chinese nationals that engaged in drug trafficking in the Philippines have been arrested in the past years.

Duterte's first order of business upon assuming the presidency less than a month ago was to kill drug dealers and traffickers.

Police records said around 300 drug suspects have been killed by the police since he assumed office on June 30.

Self defense

Although the police have justified the killings as 'self-defense,' human rights advocates said that these extrajudicial killings were the offshoot of the president's orders.

Local media news agencies pegged the drug casualties as more than 300, way above the records showed by local police.

Last week, the Chinese Embassy reached out to Duterte saying it was willing to help in Manila's crackdown on drug traffickers.

"China has expressed explicitly to the new administration China's willingness for effective cooperation in this regard, and would like to work out a specific plan of action with the Philippine side," the embassy said.

Tagsdrug lords, drug traffickers, extrajudicial killings, Chinese Embassy, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, china