bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Raissa Robles

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hinted on Wednesday that he would rather cancel next week's talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping if he is barred from raising the country’s arbitral victory in the South China Sea dispute.
Speaking during the inauguration of a solar power plant in Romblon province in central Philippines, Duterte said: “They said it won’t be talked about. I said no. If I’m not allowed as a president of a sovereign nation to talk whatever I want to talk about, then let us not rather talk altogether.”
“Never mind,” he added. “Do not control my mouth because that is a gift from God.”
The president did not specify who “they” referred to. He is expected to make his fifth visit to China on August 28.




A copy of Duterte’s speech was obtained by the South China Morning Post late Wednesday evening.
In his speech, the president said, seemingly addressing someone in the Chinese government: “So whether you like it or not, will it make you happy or not, angry or otherwise, I’m sorry.”
“But we have to talk the arbitral ruling, then what we get if there is a start in the exploration and in the extraction of whatever worth there is in the bowels of the earth,” he added, referring to China’s offer to do a joint venture in the exploration and extraction of oil and gas deposits in the part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
China had offered to do a 60-40 sharing in the joint venture but neither country has explained whether this refers to ownership, costs or profits.
Explained: South China Sea dispute
“The proposal of 60-40 in our favour would be a good start,” Duterte said in his speech, though he did not clarify what the numbers referred to.
“I hope that it would graduate into something like towards how do we solve the arbitral ruling peacefully.”
He also said that “any other adventures or expeditions in the marine oceans of our exclusive zones, economic zones will have a direct bearing on that arbitral ruling. I won’t agree to only a ‘thank you’ agreement [without the Philippines getting anything out of it]. But I also won’t get into a fight because of it.”

Manila and Beijing have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. In 2016, an arbitral tribunal in The Hague rejected Beijing’s territorial claims in the area, ruling that it ran counter to principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which China is also a signatory.
It also ruled that China had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights by interfering with its fishing and petroleum exploration and constructing artificial islands in its EEZ. China has refused to recognise the ruling.
Duterte changed his tune about the arbitral ruling only this month. He previously said enforcing the ruling would result in war and he preferred diplomatic negotiations.
On August 6, however, his spokesman Salvador Panelo quoted him as saying that “the time has come” to raise the ruling.
When Xi meets Duterte: is the China-Philippines honeymoon over?
Duterte's statements came after China urged Manila to ban all online gambling. The Philippine government was looking to collect at least 22 billion pesos (US$420 million) in income taxes yearly from online gambling workers coming mainly from China.
This is on top of the expected eight billion pesos expected to be collected this year from the online gaming companies.
China recently showed its displeasure over moves by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Manila's state gaming regulator, to confine mainlanders to “hubs”, ostensibly to protect them.
Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook


Can Rodrigo Duterte serve as Davao mayor from ICC detention?

Duterte vs Marcos battle for 2028 begins in Philippines: ‘they’ve smelled blood’

TikTok shuts down ‘covert influence networks’ targeting Philippines midterm elections

Closer Asean ties can help China counter US militarisation of region

Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte hints he will cancel talks with Xi Jinping if barred from raising South China Sea ruling

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech in Quezon City, east of Manila, in July. Photo: EPA-EFE

Overlapping claims in the South China Sea

Duterte orders foreign ships to gain permission to sail in Philippine waters, in message aimed at China

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: AP

FILE - In this May 15, 2017, file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for photographers prior to their bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Duterte is preparing to make his fifth visit to China later this month during which he says he will finally raise the result of the 2016 Hague arbitration on China’s South China Sea claims amid a new spike in tensions. (Etienne Oliveau/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Could Duterte’s cooperation with Beijing help Manila realise its South China Sea arbitral victory?

Rodrigo Duterte’s upcoming meeting with Xi Jinping comes amid growing unease in the West Philippine Sea. Photo: AP

The Philippine's and China's overlapping claims in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea. Map: SCMP

Rodrigo Duterte is ‘selling out’ to China, says Philippine VP Leni Robredo

Philippines Vice-President Leni Robredo. Photo: Reuters

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 1, 2016 shows Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte (R) posing for photographs with Vice-President Leni Robredo after the military parade at the military headquarters in Manila. Philippine Vice-President Leni Robredo said on December 4, 2016 she was told that President Rodrigo Duterte had barred her from cabinet meetings, and alleged there was a plot to oust her as his deputy. / AFP PHOTO / Ted ALJIBE

News

Asia

Southeast Asia


Philippine president, just ahead of his fifth trip to China, says he will discuss 2016 tribunal victory ‘whether you like it or not’



Philippine president says he will discuss 2016 tribunal victory in South China Sea dispute during coming visit ‘whether you like it or not’.
