Filipino, Chinese presidents meet in sign of thaw

The Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte has met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in a potential step toward the improvement of ties, which have recently been soured by a territorial dispute.

Duterte and Xi met at the Chinese capital, Beijing, on Thursday, with the official Xinhua news agency reporting that the two leaders were to hold official talks and sign a “series of cooperation documents” between their governments.

During the meeting, Duterte said the roots of the two countries’ bonds were deep and could not be easily harmed.

The Chinese president also hailed Duterte’s visit as a step toward mending the damaged relations following years of tensions between the countries.

“I hope we can follow the wishes of the people and use this visit as an opportunity to push China-Philippines relations back on a friendly footing and fully improve things,” Xi said.

Prior to the visit, the Filipino president had stressed his country’s pursuit of a shift away from Washington, a former long-standing ally, and toward Beijing, blasting the US’s policies and declaring an end to joint military exercises with the American military.

“So it’s about time to say good-bye, my friend. Your stay in my country was for you own benefit,” said Duterte, who has also called for the removal of US troops from a group of southern islands in the Philippines. “No more American interference. No more American exercises,” he added.

However, the Philippines became entangled in a bitter dispute with regional powerhouse China when it filed a complaint with an international tribunal over Chinese claims to territory in the South China Sea. The verdict by the international court, which was issued some three months ago and which favored the Philippines, angered China and provided ammo for Washington, which routinely pops in regional disputes unrelated to it.

ME