MANILA: The Philippines has rejected China’s request for talks on the South China Sea dispute because it asked Manila to “disregard” a court ruling on the issue, the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
“They asked us to open ourselves for bilateral negotiations but outside of and in disregard of the arbitral ruling. This is something that I told him was not consistent with our Constitution and our national interest,” Philippine Star quoted Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. as saying while referring to his Chinese counterpart.
Yasay reportedly said in an interview with ABS-CBN that he and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the possibility of bilateral talks on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit in Mongolia last weekend but made no headway.
During the meeting, Yasay was quoted as saying that the Chinese insisted that the Philippines not make any comment about the ruling.
He reportedly told Wang that bilateral talks could not be conducted without using the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision as a basis for the meetings.
“We would like to discuss with you how your fishermen would have access in that area, but not in the context of the arbitral tribunal,” Yasay quoted Wang as telling him in Mongolia.
“They said, ‘If you will insist on the ruling, discussing along those lines, then we might be headed for a confrontation’,” he added.
The remark about confrontation, Yasay reportedly said, has not only been the line of the Chinese foreign minister but also of Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua when he discussed the South China Sea dispute with him.
The DFA chief said direct talks with China over the maritime flashpoint were unlikely to start anytime soon due to Beijing’s refusal to accept the ruling. He reportedly said President Duterte’s priority was to regain access to Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal for Filipino fishermen.
“We have asked China to exercise restraint and sobriety in this regard, that we maintain the status quo for now in terms of not taking aggressive actions… not coming out with any provocative statements,” he was quoted as saying by Philippine Star.
Duterte reportedly said the Philippines would not yield its territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea to China, as he vowed to stick to the ruling of the international tribunal on the maritime row.
