Teddy Locsin: Duterte did not apologize to China’s Xi

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte did not apologize when he raised with Chinese President Xi Jinping the 2016 arbitral ruling at a meeting in Beijing last week, the Philippines’ top diplomat said yesterday.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the Chinese side did not reject Duterte when he raised the ruling invalidating China’s excessive and expansive claims in the South China Sea.

This contradicted presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo’s statement that the President was “apologetic” in raising the ruling in favor of the Philippines.

“He did not apologize to China; quite the contrary; in fact insistently the contrary. And the Chinese did not reject him,” Locsin posted on his Twitter account.

The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) found no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to a “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea and Beijing had breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines, which brought the case.

Duterte said during the meeting that the arbitral award is final, binding and not subject to appeal. But Xi reiterated his position against recognizing the ruling.

“They said what I said in Bangkok: to each his own: we insist on our claims, including the Arbitral Award China lost; they insist on theirs and we both move on,” Locsin continued.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany called on South China Sea claimants to respect the arbitration ruling of 2016 and the rules-based framework laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS. But China rejected the three countries’ call, saying it is “unwelcome.”

Beijing said the situation in the South China Sea remains stable and it is improving because of the concerted efforts of China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries.