Chinese envoy says Xi will not change stance in meeting Duterte

August 9, 2019

Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua on Friday said his country's rejection of the Philippines’ arbitral victory at the Permanent Court of Arbitration over the disputed South China Sea will remain even if President Rodrigo Duterte would bring it up with President Xi Jinping.

"Our position has been clearly stated at the very beginning of the filing of the arbitration. And when the result of the arbitration (was rendered) . . . we also expressed that we will not accept it and we will not recognize it. Our position has not changed, and will not be changed,” Zhao told reporters at the sidelines of the turnover ceremony at the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

In the ceremony, the Chinese government donated P10 million to victims of a recent earthquake in Batanes.

On Tuesday, Duterte said he plans to discuss the July 12, 2016 Arbitral Award with Xi during his trip to Beijing, his fifth as President.

Zhao expressed optimism that friendly ties between the China and the Philippines under Duterte administration will not be affected.

The envoy believes Duterte would not be confrontational when he tackles the Arbitral Award with Xi because he did not hear from the President the term “invoke.”

“I don’t recall that he said, that he used the term ‘invoke’. He said, if I remember it correctly, he will not mention it in a non-confrontational and friendly manner,” Zhao said.

The Arbitral Award invalidated the China’s “nine-dash-line” claims over the South China Sea and clarified the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, including the West Philippine Sea.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration also ruled in favor of the Philippines that potentially oil-rich Recto (Reed) Bank is in the country’s West Philippine Sea. But China does not recognize the ruling.

Duterte earlier said the time has come for him to assert Manila’s rights to the disputed sea.

“I’m going to China to talk. Did I not tell you before, that before my term ends, I will be talking about the [South] China Sea?” he said last Tuesday. DMS