The country’s Foreign Affairs undersecretary, Lula del Rosario, said the issue won’t be discussed due to it being “political” and “not common to all APEC members”.
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Aquino said he welcomed Xi’s decision to join the meetings and promised “the warmth of Filipino hospitality”, according to presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma.
Washington and Beijing have both confirmed the presence of US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the Philippines next week.
The deal will give United States troops extensive access to Philippine military bases, as well as give approval to build places for fuel and gear storage used for maritime security.
The Philippine case against China is before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Netherlands.
The Philippines also on Wednesday said it will not withdraw its arbitration case despite remarks by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that Manila’s legal action has strained ties between the two Asian neighbors.
The arbitration case against China in The Hague “is a knot that has impeded the improvement and development of Sino-Philippine relations”, a statement on the Foreign Ministry’s website cited Mr Wang as saying in Manila.
While we understand that President Aquino is trying to assure the safety of the long list of important world leaders who will be in Manila for the APEC Summit, including the US’s President Obama, Russia’s President Putin, and China’s President Xi Jinping, the way he is going about it seems to be a little backwards.
The US Department of State Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program in the Philippines yesterday turned over 32 units of explosives and ordnance disposal equipment and six vehicles for initial use in the summit.
“China wishes to appropriately settle problems that affect bilateral relations through dialogue and negotiation, including maritime disputes”, said Wang, who paid a working visit to the Philippines at the invitation of his Philippine counterpart Albert Del Rosario.
His comments came after a landmark summit between Xi and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou at the weekend – the first such meeting since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.
The hearing is being held after the tribunal on October 30 announced that it has jurisdiction over the Philippines’ complaint, debunking China’s argument that the case is beyond the scope of the court’s mandate. Wang’s visit alone was a hopeful sign “that we can move the bilateral relations forward”, Jose said. It is not because we want to do it. In fact, it’s very hard to do it, but we have to do it kasi nga ho hindi ho naman ordinaryo itong mga bisita natin.
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“We were told to take a vacation for two weeks”, Rosa Diaz, a cigarette vendor, said as the wrecking crew dismantled hundreds of stalls selling used clothes, slippers and toys outside a church.
