China, Philippines promise to resolve maritime issues amid tensions
The foreign ministers of China and the Philippines have held talks in Manila, where the two sides pledged to work together to resolve their maritime differences in the South China Sea.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang held a meeting with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo on Saturday, and was scheduled to meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr as well.
“We are willing to work together with Philippines to implement the consensus of both leaders, keep China-Philippine ties in the right direction, safeguard the overall situation of our bilateral relationship, work together to continue our tradition of friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and properly resolve our differences in the spirit of credibility, consultation, and dialogue,” said the Chinese minister.
Manalo, for his part, said he hoped the meeting will provide an opportunity to make “some headway in addressing common issues and challenges.”
Overlapping claims in the South China Sea have been a sticking point in the relations between the two counties.
China claims sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The waters see the passage of about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne goods annually and are believed to be rich in minerals and oil-and-gas deposits.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines have competing claims in portions of the waterway.
Manila has filed some 200 diplomatic protests against China since last year. Most of the complaints refer to China’s activities in contested waters.
The latest meeting between the foreign ministers comes amid Manila’s deepening military cooperation with the United States. The two sides signed an agreement in early February, according to which, Manila granted US forces expanded access to key military bases in the Southeast Asian country.
Under the agreement, the US will have access to Philippine military bases, likely including two on the northern island of Luzon.
Washington’s access to those bases, according to military experts, could provide US forces a strategic position from which to mount operations in the event of a conflict over Chinese Taipei or in the South China Sea.
China has repeatedly warned that a deepening security alliance between Washington and Manila should not harm its security and territorial interests and interfere in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
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