Former Philippines President Fidel Ramos expressed the country’s desire to hold formal discussions with Beijing on the disputed South China Sea during a visit to Hong Kong as a special envoy to China.
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Although not directly involved in the South China Sea disputes, Japan has been aggressively trumpeting the arbitral tribunal’s award in favor of the Philippines in the case unilaterally filed by the previous administration in Manila.
A newly launched high-resolution imaging satellite will help China protect its maritime rights, the official China Central Television (CCTV) broadcaster reported on Wednesday amid growing tensions over disputed territory in the South China Sea.
The launch of the new satellite coincides with China adopting an aggressive posture on the South China Sea following an global tribunal’s ruling in July that Beijing doesn’t have historical rights over the region. Ramos also met with Wu Shichun, president of China’s National Institute of South China Seas Studies.
But Ramos would have to first visit Beijing for talks with Chinese officials to pave the way for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to make a formal state visit to China, he said.
China claims historic rights to the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) through its so-called “nine-dash line”, which was invalidated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague on July 12.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to the sea, through which over $5 trillion in annual trade passes.
China also claims territorial rights to the tiny islands, which it calls Diaoyu, a position rejected by the worldwide community.
However, asked if he would delve on the topic about the ruling, Ramos previously said in a press conference in Philippine capital Manila that “it is not [him] who will raise that issue”. He said the arbitral tribunal’s ruling was not discussed.
The statement added that both Beijing and Manila would seek to promote fishing cooperation, marine preservation, and tourism though it made no specific mention of the South China Sea or the ruling.
“We hope this type of exchange can assist China and the Philippines in returning to dialogue and improving relations”, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on the ministry’s website.
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China, meanwhile, has accused the Philippines of having “deliberately mischaracterized” disputes in the sea, declaring the court’s award “null and void”. Filipino fishermen have also complained of harassment by Chinese government vessels in the Scarborough Shoal.
