Beijing told visiting Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte that its position on the South China Sea was not up for negotiation, a spokesman for Duterte said yesterday.
China claims most of the contested sea, including waters close to Philippine shores, and has rejected a 2016 ruling by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that said its assertion to the sea is without legal basis.
Duterte is under growing pressure at home to challenge China — after largely setting aside the standoff for years — with tensions high after a Chinese fishing trawler hit and sank a Philippine boat in June in the contested waters.
In a meeting between the Philippine leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Thursday evening, Xi reiterated his government’s position of not recognizing the ruling, “as well as not budging from its position,” Duterte’s spokesman said.
The pair agreed to work together to “manage” the issue and recognized “the importance of self-restraint and respect for freedom of navigation in — and overflight above — the South China Sea,” he said.
The decision to raise the issue marks a turnaround for Duterte, who had revived once-icy diplomatic ties with Beijing after being elected in 2016, when he set aside the maritime ruling in favor of wooing Chinese aid, trade and investment.
Renato de Castro, professor of international studies at Manila-based De La Salle University, said that Duterte was expected to bring up the issue on his visit to “go through the motions.”
“At this point in time, he has nothing to lose, because he has only three years to go,” De Castro said. “So [Duterte] might as well raise it expecting that President Xi Jinping would basically ignore it or reject it. It’s ... a classic charade.”
The two countries should “put aside disputes, eliminate external interference” over the South China Sea and “make greater strides in the joint development of offshore oil and gas” in the region, Xi was quoted as saying in a statement by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam have competing claims to all or parts of the sea.
China invokes the so-called “nine-dash line” to mark its historic rights to the territory, which is based on a vague map that emerged in the 1940s.
Despite the territorial issues, Manila and Beijing signed a series of agreements over joint cooperation in fields including education, and Duterte hailed the “friendship and the value of our ties” between the two countries.
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
Czech intelligence chief Michal Koudelka has spent decades uncovering Russian spy networks, sabotage attempts and disinformation campaigns against Europe. Speaking in an interview from a high-security compound on the outskirts of Prague, he is now warning allies that pushing Kyiv to accept significant concessions to end the war in Ukraine would only embolden the Kremlin. “Russia would spend perhaps the next 10 to 15 years recovering from its huge human and economic losses and preparing for the next target, which is central and eastern Europe,” said Koudelka, a major general who heads the country’s Security Information Service. “If Ukraine loses, or is forced
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and