China said on Friday (March 24) it was in touch with the Philippines about the possible visit of a Chinese naval ship to the country.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday (March 23) he had invited China to send a battleship to visit.
His overtures towards a country long regarded by Manila as a maritime aggressor have marked an astonishing foreign policy shake-up, and Duterte made a landmark visit to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping last year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that military exchanges between the two countries were an important part of their relations.
“Military communication and cooperation is an important component of the China-Philippines relationship. As everyone can see, the China-Philippines relationship has showed a good momentum of improvement,” Chunying said.
As the China-Philippines relationship improves comprehensively, we would like to strengthen communication and cooperation in certain fields with the Philippines. As for the Chinese military vessel’s visit to the Philippines, as far as I know, the relevant arrangements are still under discussion between the relevant departments from two sides,” added the China’s foreign spokesperson
Duterte’s comments came amid concern in the Philippines that China would build several environmental monitoring stations in disputed waters, including on the Scarborough Shoal 124 miles off the Philippine coast. China has dismissed that as “not true”.
(Reuters)
