PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte surprised Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua while they “were discussing for hours” by stressing rules on bilateral talks that should be based on the July 12 Arbitral Tribunal ruling.
In his remarks before soldiers at the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) in Davao City, Duterte said “we avoid trouble with them. Hindi pa natin kaya. Sinabi ko (So we have not. I said),‘ Mr. Ambassador, I will not talk about it. But when we are in front of each other in a bilateral talk, then I would state my case. I have this arbitral judgment. We will not go out of the four corners of this paper. Then, let us talk.’”
“But not now. It’s not the right time to talk about it. There are so many conferences going on. If we start it, it’s going to be … multilateral and that is very dangerous,” Duterte said, adding that if China withdraws from the formal talks “then it could only mean one thing.”
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