No talks of territorial dispute in APEC

(File photo by Malacañang Photo Bureau)

President Benigno Aquino III assured Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi yesterday that territorial dispute in West Philippine Sea will be not be discussed in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

“We have a pending case before the United Nations and it is not the proper forum,” said Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Charles Jose in a press conference at the DFA.

“(Countries) have every right to raise it.

We cannot stop other countries from discussing issues that they consider important,” Jose added.

“The President mentioned that he welcomed the decision of President Xi Jinping to attend the APEC summit.

He assured the foreign minister that it is in the culture of the Filipinos as hosts to make our guests feel the warmth of Filipino hospitality,” said Presidential Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., as reported by Inquirer.net

Despite the president’s promise to not discuss territorial dispute, Jose said “we have no control over what others will raise in the meetings.”

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong on Tuesday told reporters in Beijing that there are no reported plans of discussing the West Philippine Sea dispute at the APEC summit.

“Everyone knows that APEC is primarily about discussing trade and financial cooperation in the Asia-Pacific,” he said in the same report.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived ahead of the APEC summit to conduct a meeting with his counterpart, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario.

Del Rosario said that the meeting which lasted for an hour was “good”.

Wang later went to Malacañang and met with the president.

Twenty world leaders will attend the APEC summit in Manila on the third week of November.