Duterte relies on China’s good faith in sea dispute

President Duterte is relying on China’s promise that it will not claim islands in the disputed portion of the South China Sea, Malacañang said Tuesday.

This was stressed in the wake of reports that China is now testing the Tian Kun Hao, its biggest islandmaking vessel.

According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, President Duterte has opted to maintain a good relationship with China and to rely on good faith.

“The President recognizes the principle of good faith in international relations,” Roque said in a Palace press briefing Tuesday.

“We need to rely on good faith because otherwise there would be no predictability in international relations,” he added.

According to Roque, the Chinese government assured Duterte that there will be no reclamation activities in the disputed waters.

“As I said, he has relied completely on the principle of good faith. Which is, in fact, a fundamental and cardinal principle of international law,” he added.

Roque also said that the International Tribunal Court’s decision to grant the Philippines sovereignty over the disputed waters still stands, despite the President’s decision to set it aside for a while.

“We have a decision, the last time I checked. And that decision remains unchanged. It has said that the artificial islands form part or are built in our EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” he said.

“Meanwhile, the President has opted to maintain very close and cordial relationship with China. I think, we are seeing new heights in terms of Philippine-Chinese relations and it has resulted in very tangible results, particularly economic investments,” he added.

The Department of National Defense (DND) said that it is now closely monitoring the Tian Kun Hao amid suspicions that China’s biggest dredger will be deployed in either the South China Sea or the Pacific Ocean.

“We have reports that they launched their big dredger, but we don’t know where it is going. We are constantly monitoring the movement of this ship,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said.

Xinhua, China’s state-run news outlet, had earlier reported that China will abide by the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and “won’t use the dredger to expand its artificial islands.”

President Duterte, being chairman of this year’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, has been pushing for the peaceful resolution on the South China Sea.

A year ago, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague declared China’s claims to the disputed South China Sea as invalid.

But Duterte opted to set aside the ruling for the time being and preferred to establish better ties with China first, promising to revisit and to talk about with China before his term ends.