The Philippine nation is abuzz in anticipation of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) Summit that will be hosted in Manila from November 18th-19th.
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China will seek to push its own vision of an Asia-Pacific trade pact at a regional summit next week, senior officials said Tuesday, after this month’s release of a rival US-led deal that pointedly excludes the Asian giant.
“China pays great attention to relations with the Philippines and is willing to appropriately resolve relevant issues on the basis of dialogue and negotiation”.
After the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008, China and other emerging economies and developing countries had served as the locomotive for world economic growth for several years.
China has in turn been angered over the Philippines’ efforts to have a UN tribunal rule on the dispute, as well as by Manila encouraging its defense ally the United States to exert military and political influence.
Shi Yinhong, a professor at the School of worldwide Studies at Renmin University of China, said: “The APEC summit is an important multilateral meeting”. Del Rosario said the meeting was “good” but hurried to the presidential palace, where Wang met Aquino.
FILE – Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in an image taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft and provided by the U.S. Navy, May 21, 2015.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that APEC was primarily an economic forum, and it was up to the hosts to set the agenda, but the South China Sea could still be discussed on the sidelines.
Hong added, “The bilateral relationship is beset by difficulties due to reasons known to all”.
Beijing said Wang arrived in Manila for a working visit on the invitation of Del Rosario to discuss how to improve relations between the two countries despite the existence of their maritime dispute in the South China Sea.
“Viet Nam is New Zealand’s fastest-growing export market in South East Asia, with two-way trade now worth over $1 billion a year and we have committed to doubling that by 2020”.
Asked if other leaders can raise the thorny issue, Jose said they can.
Xi’s trip to Manila next week follows a visit to Vietnam and a historic meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan in Singapore, both last week.
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Crisanto Saruca, MMDA traffic discipline head, said the traffic simulation did not cause heavy traffic along the highway.
