‘No sea feud talk at APEC summit’

Philippines pledges warm welcome for China’s Xi

MANILA, Philippines, Nov 10, (Agencies): China’s top diplomat asked the Philippines Tuesday not to raise contentious issues - an obvious reference to the Asian neighbors’ territorial spats - in an annual economic summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Manila next week, a Filipino official said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s request, relayed to his Philippine counterpart Albert del Rosario during talks in Manila, underscored Beijing’s objection to any effort to bring the long-raging disputes to an international arena, where rivals like Washington could use it to criticize Beijing.

Non-inclusion of the thorny topic would also shield Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is expected to attend the Nov 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Manila, from a potentially embarrassing confrontation.

“They said they hope that contentious issues will not be raised during APEC,” Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said in a news conference, when asked if the disputes were discussed in Wang’s hour-long talk with del Rosario.

Wang also mentioned that his Manila visit was to ensure that Xi’s visit “will be smooth, safe and successful,” Jose said.

Wang also met President Benigno Aquino III in the first visit by a top Chinese official to Manila since the two Asian neighbors’ relations soured in the last three years due to overlapping claims in the South China Sea, a regional conflict that involves four other Asian governments, whose leaders are attending the Manila meetings.

The last time a Chinese foreign minister visited the Philippines was in 2009 and Jose said Wang’s visit in itself “is an indication that we can move the bilateral relations forward.”

Aquino said he welcomed Xi’s decision to join the meetings and promised “the warmth of Filipino hospitality,” according to presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma.

The Philippines, Jose said, agreed that the meetings in Manila would not be the proper forum to discuss the conflicts, adding that Manila has a pending legal challenge against Beijing’s massive claims in the South China Sea before an international tribunal in The Hague.

“In the context of APEC, we both agreed that APEC is an economic forum and it won’t be a proper venue to discuss political and security issues,” Jose said.

Asked if other leaders can raise the thorny issue, Jose said they can.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Monday that the “bilateral relationship is beset by difficulties due to reasons known to all.” But he said that China “attaches importance to its relationship with the Philippines and stays committed to properly resolving relevant issues through consultations and negotiations.”

Criticized China has criticized last month’s patrol of the USS Lassen, a UN Navy guided-missile destroyer, within the 12-nautical-mile (22-kilometer) territorial limit of Subi Reef, which has been transformed by Beijing into an island over objections of other claimants, particularly the Philippines.

China, the Philippines and four other governments have claims across the vast South China Sea, with Beijing claiming it has sovereignty over virtually all of the waters. Some of the disputed areas are believed to sit atop vast undersea deposits of oil and gas.

Jose said the two sides also agreed to resume bilateral consultations at the vice-foreign minister level “to explore areas where we can move bilateral relations forward.”

It is the Philippines turn to host such a meeting, the date of which is still to be discussed. The last such consultation took place in 2013.

But the consultations will exclude contentious issues like the South China Sea as agreed to by Aquino and then President Hu Jintao during Aquino’s state visit to China in 2011, Jose said.

Plan China is not aware of any plan to discuss the disputed South China Sea at an Asia Pacific leaders’ summit next week in Manila, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday, amid tensions between China and the Philippines over the waters.

“Everyone knows that APEC is primarily about discussing trade and financial cooperation in the Asia Pacific,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong told reporters in answer to a question.

“As far as I know, at this year’s summit, there are no plans to discuss the South China Sea.”

China has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in shipborne trade passes every year.

A summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last week, attended by both the United States and China, failed to produce a final statement because the delegations could not agree on whether to mention the South China Sea dispute.

The Philippines pledged a warm welcome for China’s leader Xi Jinping at an economic summit in Manila next week, officials said Tuesday, despite a bitter row over disputed islands.

“The president mentioned that he welcomed the decision of President Xi Jinping to attend the APEC summit,” Aquino spokesman Herminio Coloma told reporters after Wang’s courtesy call.

“He assured the foreign minister that it is in the culture of the Filipinos as hosts to make our guests feel the warmth of Filipino hospitality,” Coloma added.

Marciano Paynor, head of the hosts’ APEC summit organising committee, told reporters Monday the maritime row would be off the summit agenda.

“I will reiterate that when we meet at APEC, it’s all economic issues and we do not take up bilateral, specific bilateral issues in APEC,” Paynor added.

Discussing the Beijing officials’ visits to Manila, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday that China wanted to improve relations with its neighbour.

“We believe that we need to properly deal with our disputes in the South China Sea to ensure that they do not disrupt our relationship with our neighbouring countries.”

However, Hong had said Monday that the onus rested on the Philippines to improve ties with Beijing.

His comments came after a landmark summit between Xi and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou at the weekend — the first such meeting since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

Those talks raised hopes of a further thaw in relations between the two former rivals.

Aquino’s only meetings with Chinese leaders included a very brief encounter with Xi on the sidelines of last year’s Beijing APEC summit and talks with Hu in Beijing in his 2011 state visit.