The meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be a “very civil and diplomatic discussion” and not a “shouting match,” Manila’s Ambassador to Beijing Jose Santiago Sta. Romana said Thursday.
“He is here to build bridges, not to burn bridges with China. So I think the Chinese side has been reassured that it’s within the framework of the Philippines continuing a friendly and cooperative relationship and that it will be a friendly and honest discussion,” he said in Beijing.
President Duterte met with Xi on Thursday night to discuss the status of the bilateral relations and issues between the two countries including the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.
The President has vowed to raise with Xi the 2016 decision by United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidating Beijing’s claim to the resource-rich South China Sea and spelled out Manila’s maritime entitlements.
“President Xi, I think, has a good measure of the President [Duterte]. So I think he expects an honest discussion, direct but friendly—in a friendly and cordial atmosphere,” Sta Romana said.
“So I think in that context, it’s not gonna be a shouting match. It’s gonna be a very civil and diplomatic discussion,” he added.
In a related development:
Former Philippine Ambassador to ||Washington Jose Cuisia Jr. said in Manila Duterte’s raising the 2016 arbitral ruling against China in his fifth visit to Beijing might accelerate the signing of the code of conduct in the disputed South China Sea.
Cuisia said China would still not acknowledge the Hague ruling, which invalidates its sweeping claims in the disputed sea.
“I’m sure China is not gonna budge in their position. They will not respect the ruling, but it could lead to the acceleration of the signing of the binding code of conduct,” he told ANC’s Early Edition.
“That would not only satisfy the Philippines, but also ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations].”
Cuisia said Duterte’s raising the arbitral ruling in his bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart would “score him positive points with the Filipino people.”
Sta. Romana also noted it would be the eighth bilateral meeting between the two leaders and they had established “a high level of rapport” in their previous discussions.
“They have become, you know, good friends. So when you are friends, there’s nothing you cannot discuss with each other,” he said.
“He’s not coming here to impose it on China. He’s not coming here to provoke the Chinese. He’s coming here to exchange views, to understand where the differences lie. And to have a deeper understanding, and to see where there are areas where the gaps can be bridged,” he told reporters in Beijing.
Early this month, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said Beijing would continue to not recognize the ruling after Duterte said he would bring up the matter in his meeting with Xi.
As a response, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo insisted that Duterte “will not alter his position on the matter in the same way that the Chinese government as it says will not.”
“We have no illusion that we can solve the issue overnight. I think the important thing is to bring it to the fore of the diplomatic agenda. However, as the saying goes, the disputes do not define the entirety or the totality of the bilateral relations,” Sta. Romana said.
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