“If you sign a treaty that calls for worldwide arbitration around maritime issues, the fact that you’re bigger than the Philippines or Vietnam or other countries.is not a reason for you to go around and flex your muscles”.
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But on Friday, the President said any negotiation with China should be based on the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s decision that favored the Philippines.
In a speech at the inauguration of the Davao International Container Port on Friday, Mr. Duterte disclosed that he found it “unsettling” to read intelligence reports that there were a lot of barges at the Panatag Shoal area. What is a objective of a barge? I think they’re starting … sa Masinloc.
Duterte’s comments come a week before a regional summit in Laos where the South China Sea dispute will be on the agenda.
“If (China) continues building military installations there. insurance would go up for the ships and the goods they transport”.
“I have nothing against China now”.
Despite this, Duterte reiterated that he will not raise the issue before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Laos tomorrow, because if he does this, “there’s going to be a convoluted thing there.
Duterte said recently that bilateral talks between the Philippines and China may start “within the year”, Xinhua news agency reported.
He said dealing with China, which refuses to honor the arbitral ruling, was all about “timing”.
He said he will not go saber-rattling despite a report from the Coast Guard that Chinese barges were being brought in anew to the Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal off Masinloc, Zambales, which China has de facto occupied since 2012 and has blocked access to Filipino fishermen. I am the President.
He said there will be a time when he will make it clear to China that its expansive territorial claims are “totally unacceptable to us”.
The territorial dispute, Duterte stressed, would be better addressed in bilateral talks, as Beijing has been pushing for.
Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. “If you want to talk to me, this is my platform and we would not get out of the four corners of this document”.
The mechanism, called the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, would be new for both Asean and China, De la Vega said.
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China has sought to assert its claims in the South China Sea by building a network of artificial islands capable of supporting military operations.
