In China, Philippines' Duterte to talk South China Sea

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is set to discuss disputes in the South China Sea on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Duterte will discuss the South China Sea issue along with a 2016 ruling by an international court that rejected China’s sweeping claims in the area, Salvador Panelo, Philippines presidential spokesman, told reporters before Duterte left for Beijing on Wednesday, according to the daily Manila Standard.

"The president said he will raise it whether or not China likes it, but I think China will have open ears. After all, they kept on saying they are friends and friends can always talk on anything," Panelo added.

It is Duterte's fifth trip to China since he took office in 2016.

The Philippines had made 15 submissions to The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea in October 2015.

The tribunal decided on seven of the submissions and ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016, saying China’s "historical maritime rights" over contested areas in the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea have "no basis in international law". But Beijing refused to accept the ruling.

Duterte last week had said that "time has come" for him to raise the issue in his talks with the Chinese leader.

"Whether you like it or not ... we have to talk about the arbitral ruling," he had said.

The president clarified that there was no option of war with China.

"It’s really time they talk about it because if the concern is maritime security and peace in the region, then they really have to talk because this has been a source of some irritants," said the presidential spokesman.

Competing claims of territorial sovereignty over islands and smaller features in the South China Sea have been longstanding sources of tension and distrust in the region.

The region became a flashpoint of ongoing tensions between China and the Philippines.