Beijing and Manila agree to self-restraint over sea
BEIJING: China and the Philippines said yesterday they have agreed to practise selfrestraint in the South China Sea and have regular discussions on a bilateral basis in addressing maritime issues.
In a joint statement issued a day after their presidents held talks in Beijing, the two countries said they have agreed to seek measures “to increase mutual trust and confidence and to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities in the South China Sea that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability”.
To that end, the statement said: “In addition to, and without prejudice to other mechanisms, a bilateral consultation mechanism can be useful, which will meet regularly on current and other issues of concern to either side on the South China Sea.”
As Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte suggested ahead of a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, an international arbitration tribunal’s mid-July ruling that invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims in the disputed sea was not mentioned in the document.
Mr Duterte told reporters on the eve of the meeting with Mr Xi that the tribunal’s decision should “take a backseat” for now because he does not want to “destroy the goodwill just by blurting out something”.
In his first trip to China since taking office in late June, Mr Duterte as expected refrained from dwelling on his country’s conflicting territorial claims with China in the South China Sea and agreed with Mr Xi to mend fences between Manila and Beijing.
The two countries said contentious South China Sea issues are “not the sum total” of their relations.
Besides their pledge to boost economic cooperation, the statement said China “understands and supports” Mr Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown, which has left thousands of people dead and has been denounced by some Western countries, including the US, for its brutality.
China and the Philippines said they have agreed to expand the exchange of “intelligence, know-how and technology sharing on fighting against drug crimes, preventive education and rehabilitation facilities”.