President Rodrigo Duterte Set to Visit China Very Soon?

Duterte is said to visit China next month.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is set to visit Beijing, China on October 20 and 21, sources said.

Reliable diplomatic sources say that Duterte’s move is to reboot the country’s relations with China amid territorial issues in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea.

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During the term of former President Benigno Aquino III, Philippines filed a suit to nullify China’s nine-dash line territorial claim before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, and it further strained relations between the two countries. The Philippines won the case in July but the China snubbed the decision.

In his speeches, Duterte had announced that he is visiting China and Russia but did not give the exact dates, either it will happen within the year or the coming years,

According to sources, Duterte is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This meeting is expected to set the direction for the revival of warm relations between the two countries, which ebbed following the arrest of Chinese fishermen in Scarborough Shoal off Zambales in April 2012.

Few weeks after he sit as the President, Duterte has appointed former President Fidel Ramos as special ambassador to China to handle the South China conflict.

During the two-day visit, Duterte is expected to seek the cooperation of China in his fight against illegal drugs, a war that has alarmed the international community for its brutality, following thousands of allleged drug personalities who died during police operations or victims of extra-judicial killings.

Duterte has always said the drug lords running the drug syndicates in the Philippines are based in China.

The President also said he will be turning to China for some projects like trade and economic assistance, and infrastructure development as he vowed to lead the country away from the United States after President Barack Obama underscored the importance of respect for human rights and due process.

Duterte will bring a business delegation that will pitch Mindanao as an investment destination.

A source said some of the places included in Duterte’s itinerary is a visit to the Great Wall of China.

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