China will consider giving Filipino fishermen conditional access to disputed waters in the South China Sea after the presidents of the countries meet in Beijing this week.
The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, who arrived in Beijing from Brunei last night, plans to raise the plight of Filipino fishermen when he meets Xi Jinping tomorrow.
The key area is the Scarborough Shoal, seized by China in 2012 and denying Philippine fishermen access to what had been their single richest fishing ground.
The seizure formed part of a case the Philippines took to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, which in July rejected Beijing’s territorial claims over much of the South China Sea, including Scarborough Shoal.
China immediately declared the ruling, which was based on the global Law of the Sea, “null and void.”
Beijing is now considering making “a concession” to Duterte, whose rapprochement with China since taking office on June 30 marks an astonishing reversal in Manila’s foreign policy.
“Everybody can go, but there will be conditions,” said a senior Beijing source in referring to Chinese and Filipino fishing areas.
If all goes according to script, fishery cooperation would be one of more than 10 broad agreements the countries could sign during Duterte’s visit.
The Philippine Foreign Ministry had “no comment” on what was coming out of Beijing, but Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary that should Duterte “demonstrate his good faith the trip will present a long overdue opportunity to heal the wounds of the past few years and steer the relationship back to the right course.”
Duterte’s visit will help define how far he wants to shift from the United States. Indeed, Manila’s 65-year alliance with Washington – a pillar of President Barack Obama’s rebalancing of US power to Asia – could be in the balance.
Anyway, a Philippine draft of a joint statement touches on a restoration of permits for Philippine agricultural exports, Beijing support for Duterte’s war on narcotics, boosting tourism and cooperation to avoid “misunderstandings” at sea.
Battling drug dealers and abusers is central to Duterte’s political mission, prompting him to hit at Obama and other critics of police and vigilante killings and to send him closer to uncritical Beijing.
The Standard, 2016