JAPAN BACKS ARBITRATION:

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte welcomes Katsuyuki Kawai, special advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at the presidential guest house in Panacan, Davao City the other day. Kawai congratulated Duterte and expressed Japan’s support for international arbitration in settling maritime disputes.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe conveyed his message congratulating presidentelect Rodrigo Duterte and expressing support for the decision of the Philippines to elevate to the International Arbitral Tribunal the territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Katsuyuki Kawai, special advisor to Abe, yesterday said he met with Duterte in Davao City to hand him a letter of congratulations from Abe.

He said the 30-minute meeting Thursday with Duterte was fruitful and beneficial for the Philippines and Japan.

“On the South China Sea issue, I said that Japan has been constantly supporting the Philippines’ use of arbitral tribunal which respects the rule of law and pursues the peaceful resolution through arbitration,” Kawai said in a press conference at the Japanese embassy.

According to Kawai, Japan and Duterte share the same view that the ruling of the arbitral tribunal is very important. Freedom of navigation must be maintained, and Japan and the Philippines should promote cooperation in security.

He also explained that the G7 Leaders’ Declaration, by the leadership of Abe, reaffirms the importance of seeking to settle disputes by peaceful means, including arbitration.

“I personally talked with your president-elect that regarding the South China Sea issue, I personally think that a multilateral dialogue will be very important and very beneficial for all the countries which are engaged in that issue. That’s my personal opinion, which I told him yesterday,” Kawai said.

“I also conveyed the prime minister’s message that he would like to deepen the current good relations with the upcoming Duterte administration not only for the sake of our two countries, but also for the sake of the whole Indo- Pacific region,” he added.

He also told Duterte that “Japan has been committed to the Mindanao peace process and that Japan will continue to support it.”

Duterte expressed appreciation for Abe’s message. Duterte said that Japan has been an old friend of the Philippines and he, too, would like to deepen the good relations with Japan.

Abe’s advisor also met yesterday with incoming foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr.