BEIJING: Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping has told a visiting Philippine envoy that he hopes ties hurt by a territorial row can recover, state media said yesterday.
Vice President Xi told Philippine Interior Secretary Mar Roxas that tensions between the two countries had “eased” after a blow-up over a disputed island in the South China Sea, Xinhua news agency reported.
The vice president is widely expected to succeed Hu as leader of China’s ruling Communist Party at an upcoming party meeting, then take over as president in March next year.
Trouble flared in April when vessels from the two countries became engaged in a standoff over the rocky outcrop known as Scarborough Shoal. Both sides later agreed to withdraw their boats, defusing some of the tension.
“I hope this (situation) will not appear again and again, allowing bilateral relations to return to the track of normal development,” Xinhua quoted Xi as telling the special envoy of Philippine President Benigno Aquino at a trade fair in southern China on Friday.
“China-Philippine relations have encountered some difficulties. However, through effective communication between the two sides, the situation has already eased,” Xi said.
In Manila, a government statement quoted Roxas as saying the two had had “a frank and candid exchange of views”.
It said both sides “expressed their desire to resolve outstanding issues while moving forward with their bilateral relations”.
“(The) discussions were constructive and the talks were conducted in a cordial atmosphere,” Roxas added.
Roxas also stressed his trip to Nanning had nothing to do with the recent controversy on “back channelling” of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in China.
One clear message that Aquino wanted conveyed to Beijing is the Philippines’ ownership of the Panatag Shoal.
Aquino is optimistic that this will be transmitted to Chinese officials.
“If they respond, good. If not, it’s clear to us that we’ve relayed to them our true stand on the issue,” Aquino said.
The talks in the city of Nanning came after President Aquino failed to secure a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in Russia earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Philippine Trade Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio said that while there might be territorial issues between the two countries, when it comes to trade and economy, it’s still “business as usual”.
“China is open for business, the Philippines is open for business anytime. We are not concerned, we are not worried because we are very transparent in business. China and the Philippines are always open to each other and right now we continue to entertain a lot of Chinese investments in the Philippines in the field of garments, motor vehicles and mining,” Panlilio said.
China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, which is believed to hold vast amounts of oil and gas, is a rich fishing ground and is home to shipping lanes vital to global trade.
But the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims to parts of the sea, some of them overlapping.
China is also locked in a territorial dispute with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea, which Japan administers, and calls Senkaku but China claims and knows as Diaoyu.
Agencies
