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(MANILA, Philippines) – Chinese President Xi Jinping was congratulated Tuesday in the Philippines for his first visit to the US ally to treaties with infrastructure loan deals and new agreements to prevent clashes and possibly seek of oil gas in the South China Sea disputed.
Xi was greeted by senior officials when a military band played in Manila, the last leg of a group of three Asian countries in which he offered infrastructure loans, aid and defended free trade in a rivalry influence with the United States.
The courts were suspended in Manila and thousands of police officers were deployed to secure the one-night visit to Xi, which Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had once described as "great president." More than 300 protesters carrying placards bearing the inscription "Philippines not for sale" and "Hands off our land and our seas" gathered in front of the Chinese consulate in Manila.
Xi's visit to the Philippines is the first of a Chinese president for 13 years.
"We have reopened the door of friendship and cooperation … bringing real benefits to our peoples and making an important contribution to regional peace, stability and prosperity," Xi said in a statement. communicated after his arrival.
Relations between Beijing and Manila have stagnated as a result of long territorial divisions in the South China Sea until Duterte is elected president in mid-2016 and rebuilds ties with China while maintaining the pillars of China. US security policy in a dramatic pivot. The administration of Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, brought arbitration disputes with China over the strategic waterway, but China ignored the outcome.
Duterte refused to immediately demand that China comply with the landmark ruling, which invalidated China's major water claims, where Beijing turned a series of contentious reefs into island bases protected by missiles.
The rapprochement of Duterte opened a new era of relations with the Asian economic power, with which he sought trade and investment, financing infrastructure and weapons to fight insurgents. Western governments have strongly criticized Duterte's brutal crackdown on illicit drugs, but not China. Xi and Duterte have often been at the center of the concerns of human rights groups.
After a wreath-laying ceremony at Philippine national hero Jose Rizal's monument in a Manila beach park that was cordoned off by police, Xi and his entourage will meet Duterte and the top Filipino officials later on Tuesday at the Malacanan Presidential Palace, near.
Two Filipino officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Duterte's administration would likely sign a memorandum of understanding to support Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious program. Infrastructure lending criticized by the United States as endangering debtor countries' debt. could compromise their independence.
Xi denied that Chinese bonds could lead to "an external debt trap".
The Philippine government will not likely immediately accept proposals for oil and gas exploration in disputed waters, but could sign an agreement "to explore maritime cooperation" and create a committee and working group to to hasten the discussions likely to lead to a joint decision. hunt for submarine fuel deposits, said Filipino officials, who requested anonymity because they were not allowed to publicly discuss the sensitive issue.
China has called for a so-called "maritime and air link mechanism", an arrangement for the two countries' forces to coordinate their naval and air movements to prevent "incidents" in the disputed waters, but defense officials Philippines opposed this proposal, officials said.
Philippine nationalists have warned that any deal that would undermine the exclusive rights to fish and exploit Philippine-recognized resources internationally within 200 nautical miles of the country's shores would violate the Philippine constitution.
"The Philippines should not give up our sovereign rights, as stipulated by the arbitration decision," said Senior Judge Antonio Carpio, who has conducted numerous studies on territorial disputes.
In addition to their trade disputes, China and the United States fought for the South China Sea. The Chinese authorities have asked Washington to give up what they consider to be a purely Asian conflict, but the US has vowed to maintain a presence in the waters, where they have no pretensions, but they pledged to continue naval patrols to promote freedom of navigation and overflight. despite the Chinese warnings.
"We will continue to fly and sail wherever international law permits and where our national interests demand it. harassment will only strengthen our resolve. We will not change course, "said US Vice President Mike Pence at a meeting that was held over the weekend in Papua New Guinea and attended by Forum leaders. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, including Xi.
