President Rodrigo Duterte discussed the rule in 2016 during a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Thursday. But , China is not accepting the arbitrary victory of the Philippines in the South China Sea dispute.
In a statement early Friday, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte was “steadfast in raising with President Xi concerns central to the Philippines’ claim in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), which include the ruling held by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.”
In July 2016, the Philippines sealed a historic win against China before the United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal in The Hague, which invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea.
China, however, has repeatedly refused to recognize the ruling and continued with its militarization and reclamation in the disputed sea.
“Both President Duterte and President Xi agreed that while their variant positions will have to remain, their differences however need not derail nor diminish the amity between the two countries,” Panelo said.
“They shared the view that the contentious issue is not the sum total of the Philippines-Chinese bilateral relationship,” he added.