PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte remains hopeful China will keep its promise to stop the construction of new features in the disputed West Philippine Sea waters, after discussing the issues of maritime security and freedom of navigation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his two-day official visit to Japan.
“China has put it on record that near the Pag-asa Island and the Scarborough…China has committed to us [that they will] not build anything there. I hope that they would honor that commitment to us. I really hope and pray,” Duterte told reporters upon his arrival in his hometown Davao City Tuesday night.
Asked about his response should China decide not to honor its promise, Duterte said the question should be answered by Beijing, not him.
“Yes, [I am holding on to that commitment], because if I commit, as President of a sovereign state, what comes out of my mouth is what it is. Anything less than commitment, you will lose the respect of others and the rest who are giving us assistance,” Duterte said.
“I have been clear on this. I did not grab anything, but this is mine,” he said, referring to waters and features within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
In a Kyodo News report, a Japanese government spokesman said Abe and Duterte “discussed” the issues of maritime security and freedom of navigation, including in the South China Sea, but declined to elaborate further.
While Japan is not a claimant in the dispute between China, the Philippines and four other countries in the South China Sea—it worries about the impact of China’s expansionary activities on crucial shipping lanes in the disputed waters and faces a separate claim by Beijing to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Duterte, who confirmed speaking with Abe about the issue, only gave assurances he would raise the maritime issue to his Chinese counterpart within his term to discuss “what is really in store for us all.”
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Robespierre Bolivar earlier said the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China are expected to announce the start of negotiations for the actual code of conduct in the South China Sea, when the Philippines hosts the 31st Asean Summit in Manila from Nov. 13 to 14.
The summit might come out with a statement welcoming the adoption of the framework for the code of conduct that was approved in August, Bolivar said.
“Not to prejudge the outcome of the Asean-China summit [but], of course, we are hoping that the leaders will announce the start of the negotiations on the code of conduct based on the framework that was recently approved. That’s the big-ticket item in terms of the South China Sea,” Bolivar told reporters in Malacañang.
The Philippines last April hosted the 30th Asean Summit, highlighted by a watered-down communique that evaded reference to China’s maritime encroachment in the South China Sea.
China is sensitive to even a veiled reference by Asean to its seven reclaimed reefs which, according to some experts, have the capability to accommodate warplanes and military facilities.
In 2013, the Philippines filed a case in a United Nations-backed tribunal against China’s sweeping claims to over most part of the resource-rich sea.
The court said in 2016 that China violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights by blocking fishing and oil exploration as well as by building reclaimed islands there.