China will work with Southeast Asian countries to safeguard peace in the South China Sea, President Xi Jinping said on Saturday in a meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who pledged to handle issues with Beijing in those waters bilaterally.
DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) — China will work with Southeast Asian countries to safeguard peace in the South China Sea, President Xi Jinping said on Saturday in a meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who pledged to handle issues with Beijing in those waters bilaterally.
China claims almost the entire strategic waterway through which about $3 trillion worth of goods pass every year, building and militariszing artificial islands. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have conflicting claims there.
“China will continue to work with ASEAN countries to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity of the South China Sea region,” China’s official Xinhua news agency cited Xi as saying to Duterte.
The two met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang.
The Philippines will, according to a consensus reached by both sides, work through bilateral channels to appropriately handle maritime issues, Xinhua cited Duterte as saying.
