President Rodrigo Duterte said his visit to China signaled a turning point in history as it proved the capability of the two nations to work together.
"My state visit to China signaled a turning point in our shared history and showed that both countries are fully capable of working together for mutual beneficial cooperation even as we remain committed to settle disputes peacefully in full adherence of international law,” Duterte said in a speech in Davao City on Friday evening upon his arrival from his four-day China visit.
He added: "To realize the vision of a deeper and more meaningful engagement, we have opened formal lines of communications between our government and agreed on the full resumption of the regular bilateral consultations mechanisms which were put on hold for several years."
Duterte had spoken with the Chinese government on a number of issues concerning both China and the Philippines.
“In all meetings, we had productive and extensive discussions of the full-range of Chinese-Philippine relations from the trade to infrastructures and tourism and to science and technology and health,” the president said.
Duterte also said he talked to President Xi Jinping on the Scarborough Shoal issue, saying, "Yes, of course [we talked about it]. I leave it to the Chinese authorities what they will do in the next few days.”
Amid these talks, Duterte said what is important is to protect the country’s sovereignty.
“In every step the took the relationship of Philippines and China further forward, I was guided by the duty to protect the sovereignty of our nation and the interest of our people,” Duterte said as he vowed to put the nation’s interest above everything else.
“In all my engagements abroad, rest assured that I will always pursue our nation's best interest consistent with our independent foreign policy anchored on the basic tenets of sovereignty, non-interference and mutual respect,” he said.
He said in his speech that both countries have agreed to return to bilateral consultations to resolve the territorial disputes.
"We acknowledged the need to address disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law. We also agreed to continue discussions on confidence-building measures, including a bilateral consultation mechanism to discuss immediate issues of concern in South China Sea," Duterte said.
He added that the two countries have affirmed "the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, freedom of navigation and overflight in South China Sea." — VVP/ALG, GMA News
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