The Philippines is committed to continue its friendly relations with China and set aside contentious issues over the maritime dispute in the meantime, Malacañang declared Tuesday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque affirmed the country's warm relations with China even as it chose to "agree to disagree" with the Asian giant that reportedly dismissed the country's arbitral win on the West Philippine Sea dispute.
(OPS / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
"Unang-una po, talagang hindi tayo nagkakasundo sa bansang Tsina tungkol diyan sa arbitral award na iyan ‘no. Sinasabi natin na partido ang Tsina sa UNCLOS na mayroon pong mandatory dispute resolution na ginamit natin at ang naging resulta nga iyong award. Pero let’s just say that we will agree to disagree. (First of all, we really do not agree with China about the arbitral award. We said China is party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that has a mandatory dispute resolution we used and where we obtained such award. But let's just say we will agree to disagree)," Roque said during a Palace press briefing.
Despite the lingering territorial conflict, Roque said the country's economic and trade relations with China will be sustained. He said such maritime disagreement is not the sum total of the bilateral relations between the Philippines and China.
"We will proceed po, isusulong natin ang pupuwede nating isulong sa ating pagkakaibigan sa Tsina, iyong mga bagay-bagay na may relasyon sa ekonomiya at sa kalakal (We will proceed with what we can continue with our friendship with China like matters on economic and trade relations)," he said.
"Isasantabi muna po natin iyong mga bagay na hindi mapagkasunduan, kasama na po itong territorial dispute na ito (We will set aside other things that we do not agree on including the territorial dispute)," he added.
In July 2016, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidated the historic claims of China in the South China Sea within the so-called nine-dash line. It said China breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines by building artificial islands, interfering with its fishing and oil projects. China however has rejected the tribunal's decision.
On the fourth anniversary of the arbitral ruling, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. called on China to respect the award, which he claimed was "non-negotiable."
The Chinese embassy in Manila however insisted that the arbitral award was "illegal and invalid." "China does not accept and participate in the arbitration, nor does it accept or recognize the so-called award," it said in a statement last Monday.