Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte tries to smooth over South China Sea tensions in meeting with China’s Xi Jinping
- Philippine leader seeks to set differences aside and pledges support for belt and road plans as he meets Chinese counterpart
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte tried to play down tensions over the South China Sea and restated his support for Beijing’s contentious global infrastructure and trade plan as he courted Chinese investment on his latest visit to the country.
Duterte is one of dozens of world leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing and on Thursday met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. According to state news agency Xinhua, Duterte emphasised that his country had an independent foreign policy in an apparent attempt to allay China’s concerns about his country’s long-standing alliance with the United States.
His effort to smooth over their differences follows a recent spat over China’s presence in Philippine-held waters and a pledge by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the US would come to Manila’s aid in the event of an “armed attack by China”.
Xi, for his part, urged Manila to take a long-term view of their relationship, which he said had entered a new stage of development, and said friendship was the only correct choice.
“Both sides should renew their trust in keeping promises, carry forward the spirit of partnership, maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, and strengthen maritime cooperation,” he said.
He also offered his support for Duterte’s crackdowns on drugs and terrorism, which have been extensively criticised by human rights groups.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Xi praised Duterte as a “genuine” friend and “trusted partner” and described the nation as an important part of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, which has been facing increased accusations of “debt-trap diplomacy”.
The newspaper also reported that the Philippine ambassador to China Jose Santiago Romana had said the recent tensions over the South China Sea had been the subject of “very tense” discussions ahead of Duterte’s visit, his fourth to China since taking office in 2016.
Beijing and Manila are embroiled in a stand-off after the latter claimed that as many as 275 Chinese boats and ships had been spotted in recent months around the Philippine-held island of Thitu in the Spratly chain.
The Philippines called the boats’ presence “illegal” and Duterte threatened China with possible military action if it touched the island.
The row also generated a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment, with around 1,000 demonstrators taking to the street to protest against what they perceived as Beijing’s bullying and Duterte’s weakness in confronting its territorial claims.
On Thursday Duterte said both sides should continue to explore new areas of cooperation and partnership and vowed to work with Beijing to execute the “high-quality and good impact projects” that were agreed during Xi’s visit to Manila last year.
“The sooner they are completed, the sooner people on the ground will feel the benefits of Philippine-China relations,” he said.
Manila is expected to sign some 20 agreements worth about US$18 billion during Duterte’s China trip, according to his trade minister, Ramon Lopez.
