Manila, Beijing to Open Talks on South China Sea Dispute

Updated at 12:45 p.m. ET on 2017-05-17

The Philippines is ready to deepen cooperation with China, President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday as the two countries prepared to open talks in Beijing on Friday over overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Duterte returned to the Philippines from the Chinese capital on Tuesday, where he had attended a two-day international conference at which China laid out its ambitious “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) plan to build a network of ports, roads railways and other infrastructure stretching from its shores through Southeast Asia, South Asia and across the Indian Ocean.

The “bilateral consultation mechanism” – the official name for inaugural talks set for May 19 and aimed at managing territorial tensions between the two nations – could help speed up integration efforts in the diverse region hobbled by conflicting claims to the South China Sea, Duterte told reporters.

“This is one step forward in peacefully managing disputes,” Duterte said.

Overlapping claims on the Spratlys Islands in particular – a chain in the South China Sea claimed in whole or part by China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan – have been cited as a potential flash point for conflict in the region.

The OBOR, according to Duterte, could “complement” integration efforts being espoused by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, which also includes some countries that are active claimants of the mineral-rich sea region.

“OBOR can be a parallel program or platform for growth in the region. We can use it to stimulate growth and improve market access as it facilitates connectivity and provides much-needed funding,” Duterte said.

He said that while in Beijing, he had the opportunity to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

“We renewed our resolve to strengthen our friendship and mutually beneficial partnership on a broad range of areas. We resolved to fully use the mechanisms we have established to dialogue openly, monitor progress and ensure implementation of projects,” Duterte said.

He emphasized that the Philippines could not risk antagonizing China, which has been expanding and improving facilities in Chinese-held territories in the sea region despite pledging to refrain from actions that could heighten tensions in the area.

Manila “frankly cannot afford it and China cannot afford it also at this time,” Duterte said. “It will destroy us both.”

He said he had agreed with both Chinese leaders that they would not discuss an international court’s arbitration ruling last year that invalidated China’s claims to almost all the sea region.

“There is a time for me to ask about the arbitral ruling but it is not now,” Duterte said. “We have to have an agenda, the structure of the meeting and the way how to present our case to them first.”

The Philippines, under Duterte, has been trying to placate China after it lost the arbitration ruling last year. And the president has made it a point to distance the Philippines from its traditional defense ally, the United States, while developing warmer relations with Beijing.

His perceived pro-China stance has worried some analysts, who point out that Duterte’s moves are a departure from the previous government’s strong nationalist stance.

The China trip, however, came as the Philippines was preparing to rehabilitate its facilities on Pag-asa, the largest of nine islands it occupies in the Spratlys chain.

An earlier version contained wrong information about when the international arbitration ruling took place.