CHINA has agreed to enter into a bilateral mechanism with the Philippines to resolve disputes in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Malacañang said Monday.
Following the courtesy call of Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua to President Rodrigo Duterte at Panacan, Davao City, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said the two countries agreed to further strengthen cooperation on the handling of the South China Sea dispute, defense and capacity building, infrastructure financing, and anti-poverty and anti-illegal drugs campaigns.
“He conveyed that China looks forward to the convening in May 2017 of the first meeting of the bilateral mechanism set up to properly handle the SCS issue,” Abella said.
“Through this bilateral mechanism, mutual trust and maritime cooperation will be forged and misunderstandings will be avoided,” he added.
Duterte is set to visit Beijing during the One Belt One Road Summit in Beijing in May 2017.
During the meeting, the Chinese envoy also expressed its determination to work with the Asean “in finalizing the Code of Conduct Framework on the South China Sea middle of this year.”
Duterte had earlier vowed to finish within the Philippine chairmanship the final crafting of a framework for a legally binding “code of conduct” among members of the Association of South East Asian Nations and China as he stressed the need to maintain peace and stability in the region.
The Philippine leader, who chairs the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations this year, likewise insisted the need to respect for freedom of navigation and overflight within the disputed waters.
In the same meeting, Beijing expressed its readiness to implement the memorandum of understanding it signed with the Philippines during Duterte’s visit last year on the joint coast guards patrolling in the disputed waters, Abella said.
Also discussed during the talks were the implementation of infrastructure grants by China to the Philippines and the donations for anti-poverty programs and anti-illegal drugs operations, Duterte’s spokesman said.
Discussions on the code between China and Asean, four of whose members—the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei—have claims in the South China Sea that overlap those of China, have taken place for over a decade already, amid the lingering tensions in the waters.