BEIJING – President Duterte was in Beijing yesterday for a meeting with counterpart Xi Jinping in which the Southeast Asian leader is expected to discuss a ruling on the disputed South China Sea.
The 2016 Hague arbitration mostly invalidated China’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea and found that it violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The row over the waters – a major global shipping route thought to be rich in oil and gas reserves – has for years marred China’s relationship with the Philippines and other neighboring countries with territorial claims over the disputed area, where Beijing has transformed a string of disputed reefs into missile-protected island bases.
Duterte, however, has largely avoided the subject in favor of seeking warmer ties with Beijing. Philippine nationalists and Left-wing groups have criticized the president for not immediately demanding Chinese compliance with the arbitration ruling, which came the same year Duterte took office.
The Philippine leader briefly mentioned the issue to Xi on the sidelines of an April conference for China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative, and presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo indicated Duterte will raise the matter in a more direct way during this visit.
It’s unlikely that Duterte’s move will have any effect on China, said Jay Batongbacal, a maritime affairs scholar at the University of the Philippines.
“China’s position will not change just because Duterte changes tune,” Batongbacal said. “At best, Duterte might be seen as using the arbitration discussion as a move to leverage other concessions. At worst, it may be just for show.”
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana said China cannot order the Philippines to ban online gambling as it is legal in the country.
Sta. Romana made the statement ahead of Duterte’s scheduled eighth bilateral meeting with Xi yesterday.
Sta. Romana said China cannot force the Philippines to heed its request to ban all online gambling in the country because it is legal in the Philippines. “They can’t dictate on us, that’s our sovereign decision. That is where we stand,” he said.
However, Sta. Romana said that the Philippine government will not reject China’s request outright but rather explain to them that online gambling is legal in the Philippines. “I leave it to our experts to deal with this. For me, I think the key is for the President to be ready to explain,” he said.
The Filipino envoy also said that closing down online gambling operations in the Philippines would have a negative effect on the country’s economy.
“It will have an economic impact on us. If we’re to do it, we want a soft landing. We don’t want a drastic impact that will adversely affect our economy,” he said. ‘It’s a big issue for us because it has an economic impact and also because we have a different perspective in terms of its legal in the Philippines,” he added. (AP and Argyll Geducos)
