BEIJING—The bilateral relations between the Philippines and China continued to improve even as both countries continued to lock horns over their conflicting territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea, President Benigno Aquino III said here Sunday.
He made the statement during the APEC CEO Summit when a business leader asked him about the relations between Manila and Beijing.
“It’s in the Philippines’ interest to achieve harmony with all of its neighbors, Aquino said.
“There are so many practices that each country can benefit from as we face common challenges.”
Aquino noted that in 2011, then Chinese President Hu Jintao said that the be-all and end-all of bilateral relationships did not have to be with just one particular issue.
“We are happy to note that, for instance in trade, there is a very significant growth in trade between our countries. In so many different other aspects, even from food production, there has been a lot of cooperation already,” Aquino said.
“In people-to-people exchanges, the provision of numerous teachers of Mandarin for our countrymen has also been coming into the country.”
Aquino said that in 2011, the Philippines invested something like $2.5 billion in the Chinese economy, and in turn China invested about $600 million in the Philippines. He said The Philippines sent 800,000 tourists to China and China sent 200,000 tourists to the Philippines.
“All of these numbers, I am told, have continued to grow, and we seek to have, again, harmonious relationships with everybody. We actually firmly believe that without stability prosperity is an impossibility,” Aquino said.
“Anything that fosters greater stability is an objective for us because we do want to achieve more prosperity for our people together with the rest of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.”
Aquino will join Chinese President Xi Jinping for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting today, but the two do not have a scheduled bilateral meeting.
He will have bilateral meetings only with the heads of state of Vietnam, Canada, Thailand, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea at the sidelines of the APEC meeting.
In an earlier interview in Hainan, top South China Sea expert Wu Shicun said the Chinese government would likely wait for the next Philippine administration in 2016 for improved bilateral relations.
Wu said Beijing will not abide by any decision of the United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, where Manila has lodged an arbitration case questioning China’s nine-dash line policy.
He said the Philippines should consider withdrawing the case it had filed before the UN tribunal in The Hague since China would not recognize whatever judgment the court may reach.
“One option is for the Philippines to think of the possibility of withdrawing the arbitration case as a good gesture to improve Philippines-China relations,” Wu said.
“We expect that by January to March 2016, the UN may give a decision, but no matter what the final decision is—whether favorable or not to China—the problem between the Philippines and China will still be there.”
China and the Philippines are signatories to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The tribunal in The Hague has given Beijing until Dec. 15 to reply to the Philippine motion, but China has said all along it will not participate in the UN arbitration proceedings, pushing instead for a bilateral approach to resolve the territorial conflict. - © Provided by manilastandardtoday.com
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