US supports resumption of Philippines, China talks

VIENTIANE: US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday he supported the resumption of talks between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea, following an international court ruling against Beijing over the dispute earlier this month.

China did not participate in and has refused to accept the July 12 ruling by the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, in which US ally Manila won an emphatic legal victory. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi had asked Kerry to lend his support for bilateral talks to restart between Manila and Beijing in a meeting between the two in the Laos capital of Vientiane on Monday.

“The foreign minister said the time has come to move away from public tensions and turn the page,” Kerry told a news conference. “And we agree with that... no claimant should be acting in a way that is provocative, no claimant should take steps that wind up raising tensions.”

Kerry said he would encourage Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to engage in dialogue and negotiations with China when the two meet in Manila on Wednesday. Kerry is due to travel to the Philippines later on Tuesday.

China’s dismissal of the court ruling as illegitimate presented a challenge, Kerry said. The international community, including the United States, sees the ruling as legally binding and a matter of law, he added.

“So we still have a task ahead of us, a challenge, which is to try to work going forward to make sure that we are resolving the issues through diplomacy and the rule of law,” he said.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.