Chinese, Philippine leaders meet seeking expanded trade

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) – Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte met Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a state visit to Beijing where he is seeking to expand trade and investments as well as repair relations.

State news agency Xinhua reported that Xi held a welcome ceremony for Duterte before their official talks, after which the leaders are due to oversee the signing of a number of agreements.

Since winning the May 9 election in the Philippines, Duterte has called for a foreign policy not dependent on the United States, the country’s treaty partner, and talked of forging links with China and Russia, bringing uncertainty to the long alliance with Washington.

His state visit to China is aimed at expanding trade and investments, financing for infrastructure projects and also repairing relations strained under his predecessor over territorial conflicts in parts of the South China Sea -- which Manila calls the West Philippine Sea.

While Duterte had insisted before his trip that there would be “no bargaining” over the Philippines’ claims in the resource-rich region, on Wednesday he said he would wait for Xi to raise the issue out of “basic courtesy”.

“If he mentions it in passing, and I will just say, ‘Mr. President I came here for a visit. I would not want to make hard imposition’," he was quoted by GMA News as telling a news conference in Beijing.

“As a matter of courtesy in the oriental way, you always have to wait because I am a visitor. I will not destroy the goodwill by just blurting out some,” he added.