“You will nearly always see in Western press stories on the South China Sea the statement that China claimed nearly the entire South China Sea, this is factually incorrect”, said David Welch, professor of political science at Canada’s University of Waterloo. “We saw the result of that in WWII, with Hitler invading Germany and at the same time declaring war against the West and the United states”.
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Beijing announced on Monday that Vice-Premier Liu Yandong will join US Secretary of State John Kerry for the seventh annual China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange.
Duterte has said he was open to joint ventures with China to explore and exploit resources in the South China Sea.
As the dispute raged, China undertook a “militarisation” programme by building artificial islands on the disputed territories, which the Philippines and other nations such as the US, Japan and Australia have strongly protested as a threat to the freedom of navigation in a vital global waterway like the South China Sea.
Last week, the Prime Minister, Charlot Salwai, said it recognised China’s territorial claim to a significant portion of the sea.
“For as long as it (China) adheres to the rule of law, respects our territorial integrity and sovereignty…we should continue to make sure that our friendship and relationship would be stronger”, he said. China has already stated that it would not accept the judgment by the tribunal court.
China has been angered by what it views as provocative United States military patrols close to islands Beijing controls in the South China Sea.
In recent months, after the PLA gradually began adding missiles and warplanes on some of the new islands, the United States government response has suffered from a series of confusing and mixed signals sent to the Chinese.
American strategic messaging has been more problematic, hampered by apparent White House fears of offending or upsetting China and disrupting US-China trade and business ties.
“U.S. forces will continue to go after threats on Pakistan soil: “Obama in a statement said”, As we go forward the United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever global law allows and we will support the right of all countries to do the same”.
“Launching the ‘Freedom of Navigation (FON)’ program in 1979, under the Jimmy Carter administration, Washington just wants to legitimize its undeserved interests around the world depending on its military supremacy”, China Daily wrote.
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Duterte, the eccentric former Mayor of Davao, beat presidential hopefuls Mar Roxas and Grace Poe in the first round of the elections.
