PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday urged Beijing to talk even if Manila wins the arbitration case that it filed before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, saying that the Philippines is not prepared to go to war.
The President’s statement came as China began a week of naval exercises in disputed waters around the Paracel Islands.
Beijing has boycotted the arbitration hearings and is engaged in a major diplomatic and publicity drive to try to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the process.
In an editorial, the Global Times, a newspaper owned by the People’s Daily group, said China should accelerate the build-up of its defense capabilities and “must be prepared for any military confrontation.”
“Even though China cannot keep up with the US militarily in the short term, it should be able to let the US pay a cost it cannot stand if it intervenes in the South China Sea dispute by force,” it added.
The newspaper, which is published by the government, added: “It is naive to expect China to swallow the bitter pill of humiliation.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, meanwhile, said they are considering backchannel talks with Beijing and said they were considering a special envoy tasked to resolve the controversies surrounding the maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
Speaking extemporaneously at a ceremony marking the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force, Duterte emphasized that the Philippines is not ready to go to war.
“As for the West Philippine Sea, we remain optimistic that the judgement will be in our favor. If not, we will accept it as a country which honors international agreements… we will talk to China as we are not ready to go to war.”
In his first Cabinet meeting Thursday, Duterte said the government would await the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration before making any other moves on the West Philippine Sea.
“After the arbitral tribunal rules on Philippine maritime dispute with China on July 12, we can decide on next steps,” Duterte said.
In a television interview, Yasay said Duterte wants better relations with China, unlike his predecessor, the former President Benigno Aquino III, who had an adversarial relationship with Beijing.
“It is my understanding that the President would like to maintain stronger, better relationships with everybody, including China, including the United States, including Japan and all. The Constitution mandates amity, close friendships with all nations and this is what we should pursue,” Yasay said.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said that the Philippines is committed to a peaceful settlement of the issue, dismissing China’s threat to use its military force to assert its sovereignty over almost all the resource-rich strategic waterway in the South China Sea, which is claimed by other Asian countries.
“We don’t see any need for that because Philippines has always been firmly committed to pursuing a peaceful resolution to the SCS dispute and a rules-based regime in the region,” Jose said in response to Chinese statements on the possibility of war. With AFP