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New York City—Citing the US-China “ping-pong diplomacy” in the ’70s as example, President Marcos said the Philippines would explore all avenues to peacefully resolve the West Philippine Sea row with China.
“The position that the Philippines takes is that we have no territorial conflict with China. What we have is China claiming territory that belongs to the Philippines,” he said in a forum with the international think tank Asia Society on Friday that capped his six-day visit to the United States.
The Philippines has filed numerous diplomatic protests against China’s harassment of Philippine fishing and Navy vessels in the West Philippine Sea, stressing its 2016 victory in an arbitration court that invalidated China’s sweeping claims over nearly the entire South China Sea and upheld the Philippines’ maritime exclusive economic zone.
He said the Philippines maintains its position on maritime territories, fishing rights and economic zones but nonetheless continues to engage China on other aspects, citing economic and people-to-people relationships and cultural exchanges with China.
