Chinese President Xi Jinping told outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday that the two countries had “correctly” handled the sensitive issue of the disputed South China Sea, attempting to put a positive spin on a relationship that never quite delivered the hoped-for benefits.
Xi made the statements during a phone discussion with Duterte, who took office in 2016 and has worked to strengthen ties with Beijing.
Despite the improved relations, there have been intermittent territorial spats, and Beijing has had limited success in divorcing the Philippines from its treaty partner, the United States.
Xi said the sides “had stuck to the significant consensus achieved, committed to good-neighborly and friendly cooperation, insisted on properly addressing differences, and insisted on working together for common development,” but he didn’t name any disagreements.
A Chinese news agency quoted Xi as stating, “The right handling of the South China Sea issue by both parties has created an important foundation for China-Philippines friendly cooperation, benefited the two peoples, and effectively safeguarded regional peace and stability.”
“China’s policy toward the Philippines is consistent and stable, and (China) is eager to work with the Philippines to promote the continued and sound development of China-Philippine relations as they progress to new heights,” Xi said.
Duterte has a one-term restriction, and the Philippines’ presidential election is set for May 9.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, as well as its abundant fishing stocks and deep-sea mineral riches. This has put it in a tense territorial dispute with rival claims the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei along the major waterway.
Before Duterte assumed office, China’s annexation of Scarborough Shoal spurred the Philippines to submit the claims to international arbitration. In 2016, a United Nations-backed tribunal rejected most of China’s claims, ruling that it had infringed on Filipinos’ freedom to fish at the shoal.
China has denounced the verdict as a fraud and continues to ignore it, but under Duterte, Filipino fishermen have been allowed to return to the shoal.
On board a US Navy reconnaissance plane in March, US Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. John C. Aquilino told an International news channel that China had fully armed three of the seven islands it created in the disputed Spratlys archipelago in the South China Sea, despite Xi’s promise not to.
Anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming devices, and military aircraft are among the Chinese armament systems on the man-made islands.
China responded by claiming that deploying “essential national defense facilities on its own territory is a right that every sovereign country has and is in accordance with international law, which is without reproach.”
