President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to make a “soft landing” in his first international trip as President, since he felt that the 28th and 29th Association on Southeast Asian Nations Summit scheduled in September was not the venue for attacking China.
“There are critical issues but it is not the proper time to be ranting, raising hell or whatever. We are better off just, you know, biding our time,” Duterte said Thursday in Davao City.
The President warned, however, that the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries will stand by the arbitration ruling that debunked China’s nine-dash-line claims. The arbitration court ruled that China had no historical title over the South China Sea and it had breached the Philippines’ sovereign rights.
“I’ll go to Laos and I will avoid talking about the issue. Now, if another country brings the matter up, that is not within my control. My participation there is to listen to the issues confronting the Asean,” Duterte said.
“If somebody brings out the matter about China Sea, then I will talk. But I said, it has to be like a soft landing. We do not go there shouting and ready to fight. We are there to talk peacefully,” Duterte said.
On Wednesday, China expressed its hopes for talks with the Philippines on the South China Sea issue at the soonest possible time.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang responded to Duterte’s statement that the talks might happen “within the year” by saying China “will always work with countries directly concerned, including the Philippines, to resolve any dispute through peaceful negotiation and consultation.”
China and the Philippines, as friendly neighbors, “have the ability and wisdom to settle the issue through consultation and restore friendly relations,” Lu said.
Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos visited Hong Kong as Duterte’s special envoy earlier this month to pave way for talks with Beijing.
Duterte said it was “better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there.”
“So you better just say when, maybe on a goodwill visit, to their country, to express our willingness to talk and be friendly and avoid war. It’s not an option. So there is only one option left. And it is just to talk,” he added.
