Duterte to tell Xi: Asean ‘worried’ on sea buildup

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night vowed to raise with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping Beijing’s militarization of the disputed West Philippine Sea ( South China Sea), saying leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)

Speaking to reporters in Vietnam, Duterte said it was about time to make Xi aware that Asean member-states were concerned over China’s deployment of weapons to its occupied islands in the contested waters, as

Prior to leaving for Vietnam, Duterte China, saying he would ask Xi what China really intended to do in the

Duterte is scheduled to confer with Xi during a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC)

“We are friends, I’m ready to listen whole of the Asean is worried about how we should behave in the seas that are now militarized…but afraid that

there might be a mistake and there would be shooting,” the President said

“Those arms…are not there for any -

Duterte reiterated that he was not interested in going to war with China but said he had to “carry the voice of Asean” as chairman of the regional

He said the “best way” was to have a code of conduct in the West Philip

Asean and China are eyeing to complete this year a framework for a legally binding code of conduct in the

“The Asean’s (position is) up to where are we supposed and to what extent would be the use of that [sea] passage? The best way is to have a read it and you’d know that you are not crossing boundaries because as of

Duterte recalled however that Xi had vowed not to build any structure on Scarborough Shoal, a traditional - sive economic zone that was seized by China in 2012 following a standoff

“China, who is there, who controls the passage, must come up with a code of

Four Asean member-states – Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam – are claiming parts of the South China

The previous Aquino administra protest against China before a UNbacked arbitration tribunal, which

year, Philippine foreign policy leaned toward Beijing, and the President vowed not to insist on the Philippines’ legal victory against China in exchange for greater