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MANILA, Philippines – Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Tuesday that negotiations between Beijing and the Southeast Asian countries on a non-aggression pact to prevent clashes in the controversial South China Sea could be concluded in three years, and promised that any difference would be settled peacefully.
Xi made these assurances after having talks with President Rodrigo Duterte and other officials during a visit to the Philippines with the aim of deepening their relations with the US treaty ally. .
Xi's night visit to the Philippine capital, Manila, was his last stop on a three-country trip to Asia, where he had offered infrastructure loans and help and defended free trade in a rivalry. regional influence on the United States.
"We will continue to manage contentious issues and promote maritime cooperation through friendly consultations," Xi said. He added that China aimed to conclude negotiations on the "Code of Conduct" in the disputed waters with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations three years from now.
Four members of the 10-nation bloc – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – as well as China and Taiwan have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. Many fear that long-standing disputes could trigger an armed conflict that could shatter the vibrant economies of Asia.
Before Xi's visit, China and the Philippines tried to negotiate an agreement allowing for joint exploration of oil and gas in disputed waters, but failed to reach consensus. They signed on Tuesday a "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Oil and Gas Development", but officials provided little detail.
"It's a cooperation to find ways to find a solution," said Alfonso Cusi, Philippine Secretary of Energy, about the agreement.
China has sought a "maritime and air link mechanism", an agreement that the two countries' forces coordinate their naval and air movements to prevent incidents in the disputed waters, but Filipino defense officials have objected to this proposal, said two Filipino officials The Associated Press.
The pact was not mentioned after Tuesday's meetings.
Philippine nationalists have warned that any deal that could undermine the Philippines' exclusive rights to fish and exploit internationally recognized resources within 200 nautical miles of the country's shores would violate the Philippine Constitution.
Relations between Beijing and Manila deteriorated as a result of territorial divisions until Duterte became president of the presidency in mid-2016 and sought to restore ties with China while dramatically criticizing US security policy. The administration of Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, had brought territorial disputes with China to international arbitration and won, but China had ignored the result.
Duterte refused to immediately demand that China comply with the decision, which had invalidated its claims, while Beijing had turned a series of contentious reefs into island bases protected by missiles.
The rapprochement of Duterte opened a new era of warmer relations with the Asian economic power, with whom 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.
Xi said that he and Duterte "have agreed to make our relationship a global and strategic cooperation," adding, "This sends a strong message to the world: our two countries are partners in the search for common development . "
Xi's visit to the Philippines is the first of a Chinese president for 13 years.
More than 300 protesters carrying placards reading "Hands Off Our Lands and Seas" gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manila. Another group of protesters then burned a Chinese flag near the presidential palace, where Xi and Duterte met.
Duterte said the Philippines' participation in Beijing's Belts and Roads Initiative had been discussed and that Xi had invited the Filipino leader to attend the second international infrastructure loan program forum in China next year.
The United States has criticized this ambitious program for encouraging poor countries to imprisonment and warned that this could jeopardize their independence. Xi denied that Chinese bonds could lead to a "debt trap".
In addition to their trade disputes, China and the United States fought against Beijing's claims to the South China Sea. The Chinese authorities have asked Washington to give up what they saw as a purely Asian conflict, but the United States has pledged to maintain its presence in the waters, where it has no pretensions, but has committed to promote freedom of navigation and overflight.
"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 last week in Papua New Guinea, attended by leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, whose Xi.
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