Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang met Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s in his home city on Friday, becoming the most high-profile visitor from Beijing since two countries long at odds sought to chart a new course in relations.
MANILA: Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang met Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s in his home city on Friday, becoming the most high-profile visitor from Beijing since two countries long at odds sought to chart a new course in relations.
Wang went to Davao City, where Duterte was mayor for 22 years before he became president in 2016 and sought a dramatic change in approach towards China at the height of a row over South China Sea sovereignty and amid the fallout of a bitter legal dispute that went to international arbitration.
The vice premier signed a six-year development programme to work together on trade and investment, part of Duterte’s strategy to engage China as a buyer of Philippine farm and fisheries produce and a builder and financier of its much-needed infrastructure.
“Wang Yang noted the need to focus on common interests that bring more benefits than differences,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said after the closed-door meeting between Duterte and Wang.
“The president said bilateral ties are found stronger, particularly in trade and commerce, and reaffirmed the importance of peaceful settlement of disputes. “
The relationship has for years been characterised by disputes, with the Philippines repeatedly opposing China’s island-building in parts of its exclusive economic zone and its repelling of fishermen from the disputed Scarborough Shoal.
