Marcos, Xi meet anew to ease sea tensions
Published on: Sunday, November 19, 2023
By: Inquirer
Marcos (right) and Xi had their first bilateral meeting in Bangkok in Nov last year and again met in Jan this year during the visit of Marcos in Beijing.
MANILA: President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Saturday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second time this year at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco.
The two leaders’ meeting came two days after Marcos also met with US Vice President Kamala Harris here.
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Marcos on Friday said he would discuss with Xi ways to reduce tensions in the heavily disputed South China Sea.
“We will get the view of the Chinese President on what we can do to bring down the temperature, to not escalate the situation in the West Philippine Sea,” Marcos said in a video message released by Malacañang on Friday.
The President said that after his meeting with Xi and Harris, “we will put together the ways forward because we are continuously trying to maintain the peace.”
Marcos said he and Xi were in agreement that geopolitical problems should not be the defining element of the two countries’ relationship.
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“I do not think anybody wants to go to war.”
Xi reiterated that his country will stick to a path of peaceful development as he wrapped his first visit to the U.S. in six years, having eased tensions between the world’s top two economies.
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“The fundamental goal of China’s development is to improve the well-being of the Chinese people, not to replace anyone,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency cited him as saying in a speech at the close of the APEC summit.
The Chinese leader also stressed that countries should “build an open, dynamic, strong, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community,” and called for an open and fair environment for technology development.
Xi also called on his counterparts to safeguard free, open trade and investment and maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains.
Marcos and Xi had their first bilateral meeting in Bangkok, Thailand during the Apec summit in November last year.
They again met in January this year during the visit of Marcos in Beijing.
Tensions in the South China Sea have escalated after a Chinese ship again fired a water cannon on a Philippine resupply boat on its way to the rusting World War II-era ship BRP Sierra Madre at the Ayungin Shoal.
In February this year, a China Coast Guard vessel pointed a military grade laser at a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) patrol ship that was also on its way to Ayungin.
Filipino fishermen have complained that Chinese coast guard and maritime militia ships are preventing them from fishing in parts of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Beijing has repeatedly refused to recognise the July 2016 Hague ruling that invalidated its sweeping claims in the South China Sea.
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