Teodoro: Bilateral talks on WPS issue should only be done if China is sincere

Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Monday said the Philippines should engage China in bilateral talks concerning the West Philippine Sea (WPS) only if it is sincere in doing so.

Without sincerity, Teodoro said the bilateral negotiations will be an attempt to constrain the Philippines from enforcing its claims under international law.

“If there are going to be bilateral discussions, it must be based on fundamental principles and it must be based on sincerity, that it shall not be used merely as a weapon in order to constrain the Philippines,” he told reporters.

“This is my personal belief that formal bilateral discussions should only be held when it is proven that they are sincere,” he added.

Teodoro said the possibility of bilateral talks with China on the WPS issue will depend on the decision of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Parliamentarians from China on Saturday have agreed to adopt a resolution at the 31st Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) mentioning UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.)

The resolution seeks to maintain peace in the use of the seas consistent with the UNCLOS.

"We are very happy that the delegation from China graciously accepted our proposed amendment. So, we included and initially they didn't want to have any mention of the UNCLOS and freedom of navigation, pero pumayag na rin sila [but they agreed later on],” said Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Beijing initially objected to the resolutions sponsored by the Philippines and Indonesia on maritime security and settling of disputes using international law, such as the UNCLOS.

Meanwhile, Marcos, who earlier spoke at a forum in Hawaii, said the Philippines asked other claimants Vietnam and Malaysia on the possibility of crafting their own code of conduct without China.

"We are now in the midst of negotiating our own Code of Conduct for example with Vietnam, because we are still waiting for the Code of Conduct between China and ASEAN, and the progress has been rather slow unfortunately," Marcos said.

"And so we’ve taken the initiative to approach those other countries around ASEAN with whom we have existing territorial conflicts, Vietnam being one of them, Malaysia being another, to make our own Code of Conduct,” he added.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning warned against moves to craft a separate code of conduct in the disputed South China Sea.

"Any departure from the DOC framework and its spirit will be null and void," Mao said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News