In his first interview with the foreign media since being appointed by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, the lawyer by training sought to underline the Philippines’ independence in dealing with disputes with China over the South China Sea.
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The South China Sea is nearly claimed by China and has rattled neighbors with a number of reclamation and construction projects- including airships on reefs and islands.
The report comes as defense officials, including those from China and the U.S., are preparing to meet in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering on regional security matters.
The dispute relates to China’s maritime claims over the South China Sea, which are marked with the now infamous Nine Dash Line.
“It is hoped that G7 countries would take an unbiased and just position, honor their commitment of not taking sides on territorial disputes, stop making irresponsible remarks and do more things that contribute to regional peace and stability”, Hua said in a press briefing last Friday.
Kerry will be in Beijing for the 8 US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, for which he will be joined by US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
Officially China maintains that it is the right of a sovereign state to designate an ADIZ in its waters. On November 2013, China announced an ADIZ over the East China Sea, an area covering territories that are being disputed by several countries in the region, including South Korea and Japan.
China is reclusive North Korea’s only major ally but has been angered by Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests and signed up to tough United Nations sanctions against it in March.
The report said the new ADIZ would be based on the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Woody Island and China’s seven new artificial islands in Spratly chain, or 200 nautical miles stretches from the islands’ baseline. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have rival claims.
In contrast with Aquino, Duterte has said he is willing to engage China in bilateral talks on the issue.
Duterte heaped the praise on Xi in a news conference in response to questions about a message the Chinese president sent to congratulate him on winning the May 9 presidential election.
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