Duterte’s UN address opened doors for ‘wider’ engagement on South China Sea dispute — Palace exec

President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks on the South China Sea dispute at the United Nations General Assembly last week opened the doors for “wider” engagement with stakeholders on the issue, a Malacañang official said Wednesday.

Duterte declared before the UN General Assembly on September 23 that the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which invalidated China's massive claims, is "beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon.”

He also rejected attempts to undermine the decision and welcomed the “increasing number of states” that support the Philippines’ legal victory. 

“The President is signaling that the doors of engagement [are] becoming wider now, not just with China but with other stakeholders in the South China Sea,” Chief of Presidential Protocol and Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs  Robert Borje said in an interview with CNN-Philippines.

“I personally feel that the world listened and the Philippines listened to what the Philippines had to say about issues concerning the Philippines that’s connected with the entire world,” he added.

Aside from the Philippines and China, the other claimants include Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

Asked if the President would raise the arbitral win again next year at the UN, Borje said: “It would depend again on the circumstances. Let’s see.”

Following the President’s speech, China’s Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian insisted that Beijing does not recognize the ruling.

Huang added that Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping had already agreed to set aside the maritime dispute, manage the situation through bilateral consultations and enhance dialogue and cooperation so that the “sound momentum of bilateral relations as a guidepost to the way forward could be well preserved and enhanced.”

In response, Borje said the Philippines has been consistent in its position that the South China Sea issue is not the sum total of bilateral relations.

“Just because you disagree does not mean that you’re unable to construct, reengage with stakeholders like China,” he said.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque also issued a similar statement last week, saying the Philippines would continue its engagement with China on matters such as trade and investment. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News