BEFORE President Rodrigo Duterte travels to Beijing before the end of 2016, the Philippines would want to forge a provisional agreement with China on fishing rights in the West Philippine Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said Tuesday.
At a budget hearing of the Department of Foreign Affairs at the House of Representatives, Yasay said the provisional agreement between the two countries is necessary until they are able to come up with a long-term solution to the problem.
“We are even thinking about the possibility in the future for the President to make the visit to China. But we would hope that before this visit can be made, this provisional arrangements can be done with the end in view of beginning formal talks for the resolution of this dispute,” Yasay told the House panel chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles said.
Yasay was quick to say, however, that the Philippines will not resort to any drastic action against China.
“We will not be engaging China in any shooting war in this particular instance. We will exercise maximum tolerance, restraint and sobriety for this purpose,” Yasay said.
He said the primary concern of the DFA at present is “to make sure that the diplomatic processes that we will be embarking and continue to embark will result in the kind of objectives we would like to achieve.”
Yasay earlier said the President will likely visit China before the year ends, saying that this was “something [that the Duterte administration] would like to push through.”
The DFA chief said that the Philippines is now in consultation with China, through Chinese Ambassador to Philippines Zhao Jianhua, for the planned trip.
Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang warned on Tuesday there would be no winners in any armed conflict sparked by territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Quang, who is on a state visit to Singapore, told a forum that recent developments there were threatening regional security.
The Vietnamese leader did not mention any country but there is growing unease over China’s actions.
China claims most of the South China Sea. It has reclaimed reefs and built airstrips capable of hosting military equipment, sparking anger from competing claimants led by Vietnam and the Philippines.
“The South China Sea, located at the heart of Southeast Asia, not only brings about many important benefits to nations in the region but it is also a vital route to maritime and air transport of the world,” Quang said.
But “recent worrying developments” there “have had a negative impact on the security environment of the region, especially maritime security and safety, freedom of navigation and overflight.”
“And should we allow instability to take place, especially in the case of armed conflicts, there will be neither winners or losers but rather all will lose,” he warned.
Tran was speaking to diplomats, academics and students at a forum organized by the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.
Four Southeast Asian states — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — as well as Taiwan have competing claims in the sea.
Vietnam has been among the most vocal critics of China’s blanket territorial claims. In 2014, China moved a controversial oil rig into contested territory, prompting riots in Vietnam.
China’s activities in the sea have also drawn criticism from the United States, which says it seeks to ensure freedom of navigation in the waterway through which $5 trillion in annual global trade passes.
The sea row has also driven a wedge between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has failed to forge a unified front against Beijing’s actions.
Last month, the Philippines won a case against China at a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague which rejected Beiijing’s claims to most of the sea.
China boycotted the hearing and has refused to recognize the ruling. With AFP
