No sense in war
There is no sense in going to war over the disputed South China Sea as talks are far better, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told China's official Xinhua news agency, praising China for not criticising his country, unlike Western nations.
Duterte goes to China today with at least 200 members of the Philippine business elite to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance, amid deteriorating ties with longtime ally the United States.
On Sunday, Duterte said he would raise a controversial arbitral ruling on the South China Sea with China's leaders and vowed not to surrender any sovereignty or deviate from the July award by the tribunal in the Hague.
The ruling dealt a blow to China's extensive claims in the South China Sea. Beijing has refused to recognise the case and has chided any country telling it to abide by the ruling.
In the Xinhua interview published yesterday, Duterte said he wanted negotiation, not confrontation, over the South China Sea.
"There is no sense in going to war. There is no sense fighting over a body of water," Duterte said.
"China never criticises," Duterte said in the Xinhua interview. "They help us quietly."
In Brunei, Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said the South China Sea issue was not the sum total of the relationship between China and the Philippines, but the time was not yet right to discuss resolving it.
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