West Philippine Sea Dispute Might Be Discussed On Japan Visit
West Philippine Sea Dispute – President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday that the dispute in the West Philippine Sea would be discussed during his scheduled visit to Japan.
In a report by GMA News, Duterte will be arriving in Japan for talks on economic cooperation and shared interests and most probably the West Philippine Sea issue.
“My talks with the Japanese government, particular with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, would really be mostly be on economic cooperation and shared interests,” said Duterte as quoted in the report.
“The most important thing there is the shared interests. The shared interest is really about the South China Sea,” he said.
According to the report, Duterte said that he will tell Abe that the Philippines and China had agreed to just come up with something that would be good for everybody.
“That will be the meat of what I will tell Japan’s prime minister: that we can only agree to talk peacefully, resolve the dispute, and maybe come up with something that is good for everybody,” Duterte said.
The report added that Duterte might have the possible talks in the future regarding the West Philippine Sea issue could become bilateral or multilateral which might include Japan.
In earlier reports, Duterte’s visit to Beijing, China has revealed his willingness to “say goodbye” to the long-time partner, the United States. Duterte seemed to ask the favor of China of being its “new partner” both in economics and military.
Another country that’s being eyed is Russia, but, China seemed to be the stronger bet.
Meanwhile, Duterte already ordered the military to end the military exercises done with the United States in the past years.
Will President Duterte talk about the disputed territorial issue on his visit to Japan?
What do you think will happen if the three nations, the Philippines, China, and Japan would just have a joint agreement regarding the issue?
Share your thoughts in the comment below.
