(Eagle News) — China has “committed” to not building anything near Pagasa and Scarborough, where the Philippines has claims.
This is according to President Rodrigo Duterte himself, who spoke to reporters upon his arrival from his 2-day visit to Japan on Tuesday night.
“I hope they would honor that commitment to us. I hope and pray,” the President said.
He said in his case, once he commits to anyone, “as a president of a sovereign state, what comes out of my mouth is what it is.”
“And it’s always a commitment with honor. Anything less than that you lose the respect,” Duterte said.
Asked what would happen if China does not honor its word, Duterte said that was for that country to answer.
Prior to this, though, he said that at this stage, “we are not really prepared (for) just about anything except to talk.”
“I can’t imagine myself getting involved in a violent and almost suicide action,” he said.
As for Japan, Duterte said it was “really interested in freedom of navigation especially coming from the Indian Ocean.”
In fact, Duterte confirmed he and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed maritime navigation over waters including the South China Sea.
“You know that narrow strait there, there (are) a lot of buildings there by China. And also some other countries are claiming some islands with Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. It could really be a messy thing not only in the Philippines, pati sila, because each and every country has an economic zone. And it is overlapping,” he said.
Even then, he said “always we can resolve it by talking.”