A U.S. official on Tuesday dodged President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent pronouncements on the killing of African-Americans as he said the United States will maintain its strong ties with the Philippines.
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he expects talks with China on their South China Sea dispute within a year and he would not raise an global ruling rejecting China’s claims there when he attends a regional summit next month.
“Beijing hopes for a peaceful settlement of the dispute through consultations and negotiations with the countries directly involved, and is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea together with the ASEAN countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed”.
On Tuesday evening, President Rodrigo Duterte said he expects talks with China over the maritime dispute within a year. “And we will not give it to them easily. It will be the bones of our soldiers and even my own”, said Duterte.
For his part, Mr. Duterte’s foreign affairs secretary, Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. said: “We want to make close friendship with China”.
Duterte said Beijing’s condition that Manila will not use the global court ruling in the bilateral talks was “impossible”, saying the negotiators will bring it up when they come face-to-face with Chinese officials.
His statements come just a month after an global court of arbitration in the Hague ruled that China’s “historic” claims to most of the South China Sea were invalid. They’re under a new leadership now with President Duterte. “I would walk the extra mile to ask for peace for everybody”.
“China should be hearing us out now”.
Duterte on Tuesday slammed what he called the spate of killings of black Americans in response to Washington’s “deep concern” over the reports of summary killings in the Philippines, saying he would be sending a “rapporteur” to the USA to ensure it was also upholding human rights. “It does not mean that we’ll weaken our friendship with the United States”.
Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos visited Hong Kong as Duterte’s special envoy earlier this month to pave way for talks with Beijing. He has been seeking talks with China on the long-unresolved conflict.
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In 2012, China seized the shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access and prompting Manila to file the arbitration case. Its construction work on reefs there has alarmed other claimants, as well the United States and Japan.
