Ramos meets high-level official, hopes for talks

Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos said on Friday that Manila is willing to have formal talks with Beijing on issues that concern both sides after a two-day meeting with a senior Chinese official and a scholar from an influential think tank on the South China Sea.

Ramos made the remarks at the end of his five-day trip to Hong Kong as a special envoy at a time when bilateral ties are sour after an arbitration court in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in its disputes with China over the South China Sea.

The former Philippine leader held informal talks with Fu Ying, chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, and Wu Shicun, president of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

It’s important for China and the Philippines to hold different types of talks, and both sides need to make efforts to create a favorable environment, Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

He noted that Ramos’s meeting with Fu and Wu is the first step to help ease tension and clear away barriers for future formal talks.

In a statement signed by Ramos and Fu, they said their “informal discussions focused on the need to engage in further talks to build trust and confidence to reduce tensions to pave the way for overall cooperation.”

The statement added that China welcomes Ramos visiting Beijing at some point as the special envoy of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.

The statement noted that they had discussed the possibility of cooperation in various sectors including ocean conservation, anti-drug and anti-smuggling efforts, as well as trade and tourism.

China hopes such exchange could help resume dialogue and improve bilateral tie between China and the Philippines, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement on Friday.