(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said the South China Sea issue was “better left untouched,” noting that no one could afford to go to war.
“We have to be friends. The other hotheads would like us to confront China and the rest of the world on so many issues,” Duterte said the day before the official start of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
Aside from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have claims in the sea.
According to Duterte, Chinese President Xi Jinping himself “made it clear to us that the only way to go is cooperation.”
This was after Duterte said that the Chinese President expressed “surprise” at his Philippine counterpart’s “strong” statement prior to his departure for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Vietnam.
In Duterte’s pronouncement, he reiterated there was a need for the Philippines and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations to ask China for a clarification on what it wanted to do in the disputed waters.
Malacañang said according to China, it wouod not hamper freedom of navigation in the area.
“And so I should say that we should open our doors to everybody. Ideological conflicts are no longer in the vogue, it’s passé,” Duterte said.
Duterte’s statements come days before the 20th ASEAN-China Summit, which he will chair.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the summit on Monday, which will be attended by nine other ASEAN leaders and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, will see the announcement of “the start of the negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.”