OTTAWA, Canada—Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday he welcomes a possible warming of relations with the Philippines, currently strained over China’s claims to most of the South China Sea.
Speaking during a visit to Canada after incoming Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte recently heaped praise on Chinese president Xi Jinping, Wang Yi told a news conference in Ottawa that “the door of dialogue between China and the Philippines is always open.”
“If the Philippines sincerely wants to come back to the track of dialogue and negotiations, we welcome that,” he said.
“China and the Philippines properly handling disputes through direct dialogue and consultations is helpful for breaking a deadlock in the bilateral relations in recent years,” he added.
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Wang Yi was in Ottawa for meetings with his counterpart Stephane Dion and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Duterte on Tuesday described Xi as “a great president,” in a hint that frosty relations between the Asian neighbors could soon warm.
Their ties soured during the six-year term of outgoing President Benigno Aquino III, whose government sued China before a United Nations tribunal over its claims in the South China Sea, where Beijing is building low-lying ocean features and sandy blips into islands for military bases.
With a ruling expected in the coming weeks, the Philippines’ response will probably be left to Duterte, who takes office on June 30.
In contrast to Aquino, Duterte has said he is willing to engage China in bilateral talks on the issue.
However, he has also played to nationalist sentiments by saying he would ride a jet ski to plant a Philippine flag on disputed islands in the sea.
On Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry also welcomed remarks by incoming Foreign Affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. on bilateral talks.
“The Chinese side welcomes the remarks by Mr. Yasay. Over the 40 odd years of diplomatic relationship, successive leaders of the two countries have affirmed their agreement, both in face-to-face meetings and in bilateral political documents released by the two sides, to peacefully resolve the South China Sea dispute through direct and bilateral talks,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
Earlier, Yasay said that bilateral talks would be the likely diplomatic track to be followed in the effort to untangle the territorial conflict with China in the disputed waters.
He said “the Duterte administration is bent on dealing with China through peaceful dialogue, adding that there’s no other way but to go bilateral.”
“We have been pursuing this. I don’t see why we should stop,” he added.