Yasay and Kishida urged Beijing to observe the rule of law after an global tribunal rejected its claims to most of the South China Sea.
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Amid aggravated territorial disputes between Southeast Asian states and China over territorial claims in the South China Sea, Japan plans to boost defense cooperation with the militaries of the Philippines and Vietnam.
“We… urge China to make sure that maritime law and security must be completely and uncompromisingly respected”, news broadcaster ABS-CBN quoted him as saying in the southern Philippine city of Davao.
Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos said Friday that China has welcomed him to visit Beijing for discussions in the wake of last month’s global arbitration panel’s ruling in favor of the Philippines over China’s South China Sea maritime claims.
“Using force and provocation in order to assert territory is not the kind of action mandated by global law”, Yasay said.
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.
Kishida said Japan would continue providing patrol vessels to Philippines.
Beijing has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries and Japan for the decision to be adhered to and has released pictures of aircraft flying over the shoal since the ruling.
Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos (C), 88, speaks to the press as former Philippine Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan III (back) listens in Hong Kong on August 12, 2016.
Last month, Fu said at London-based think tank Chatham House while explaining China’s stance on the South China Sea that for long periods of its history, China suffered the humiliation of foreign invasion and aggression, leaving its people and government very sensitive about territorial integrity. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the sea believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas. “We can do that”, Carpio said at a forum organized by think-tank ADR Institute for Strategic and International Studies at De La Salle University in Manila.
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While the arbitration case had been filed by Duterte’s predecessor Benigno Aquino III, the new leader has said he would not “flaunt” the ruling as he seeks to improve relations for practical reasons, including an offer by China to build a railway in the archipelago. “If you can see the gravities of these activities, the incidents they sparked showed us that marine destruction is not simply collateral damage but it is at the heart of the problem to be resolved”.
