China and Philippines to set up joint coastguard committee

Possible areas for cooperation included fighting drug trafficking and environmental protection

MANILA // The Chinese and Philippine coastguards yesterday met for the first time and agreed to move forward on maritime cooperation, a sign of the growing relations between Beijing and Manila under the leadership of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.

The two-day meeting in Manila on establishing a joint coastguard committee came days after images showed China had apparently installed defensive weapons on artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea.

In a joint statement, the coastguards said possible areas for cooperation included fighting drug trafficking and other maritime crimes, environmental protection and search and rescue.

“This is a milestone because it opened the communication lines between the two agencies involved in the South China Sea,” said Philippine coastguard spokesman Armand Balilo. China claims most of the strategic South China Sea – there are counterclaims by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam – and Chinese coastguard vessels have become a growing presence in the waterway.

Mr Balilo said territorial issues were not discussed, but the meeting was a “confidence-building measure” resulting from Mr Duterte’s trip to China in October.

Mr Duterte, 71, has pivoted his nation’s foreign policy away from its traditional ally, the United States, towards China and Russia. His predecessor, Benigno Aquino, had angered China by asking a United Nations-backed tribunal to outlaw Beijing’s claims to most of the South China Sea.

A ruling in July gave Manila a sweeping victory, but Mr Duterte vowed not to “taunt or flaunt” it as he sought to improve economic relations, while praising China’s support for his violent drug war.

Jose Santiago Santa Romana, the Philippine ambassador to China, said “sensitive” issues would be tackled separately.

“It will be discussed using quiet diplomacy as well as high-level diplomacy,” he said.

The meeting took place after a US think tank released images on Wednesday that purportedly showed China had installed “significant” defensive weapons on artificial islands it had built on contested reefs.

Philippine defence minister Delfin Lorenzana said Manila was trying to verify the report.

The Philippines will host the inaugural meeting of the joint committee in February.