ASIA / PACIFIC
Page 16 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
December 3, 2018
Xi: Talks on pact to avoid sea clashes could end in three years
NONAGGRESSION TALKS. Student rallyists
wear masks bearing faces of, from left, U.S. President
Donald Trump, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte,
and Chinese President Xi Jinping, while claiming that
Duterte is selling the country to the two leaders during
a demonstration outside the Presidential Palace in
Manila, the Philippines. Xi received a red-carpet wel-
come in the Philippines, as he paid his first visit to the
U.S. treaty ally with offers of infrastructure loans and
new accords to prevent clashes and possibly explore
for oil and gas in the disputed South China Sea.
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
By Jim Gomez
The Associated Press
ANILA, The Philippines —
Chinese President Xi Jinping
says
negotiations
between
Beijing and Southeast Asian nations on a
nonaggression pact to prevent clashes in
the disputed South China Sea could be
concluded in three years and promised
that any differences will be dealt with
peacefully.
Xi made the assurances after holding
talks with President Rodrigo Duterte and
other officials on a visit to the Philippines
aimed at deepening relations with the
American treaty ally.
Xi’s overnight visit to the Philippine
capital, Manila, was his last stop on a
three-nation swing through Asia, where
he offered infrastructure loans and aid and
championed free trade amid a rivalry for
regional influence with the United States.
“We will continue to manage contentious
issues and promote maritime cooperation
through friendly consultation,” Xi said. He
said China aims to conclude talks on the
“code of conduct” in the disputed waters
with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations within three years.
Four members of the 10-nation bloc —
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and
Vietnam — along with China and Taiwan
have overlapping claims in the South
China Sea. Many fear the long-simmering
disputes could spark an armed conflict
that could shatter Asia’s bustling econo-
mies.
Ahead of Xi’s visit, China and the
Philippines tried to negotiate an
agreement allowing joint oil and gas
exploration in the disputed waters, but
apparently did not reach a consensus.
They signed a “memorandum of under-
standing on cooperation on oil and gas
development” but officials provided few
details.
“It’s a cooperation to find ways to find a
solution,” Philippine energy secretary
Alfonso Cusi said of the agreement.
China has sought a “maritime and air
liaison mechanism,” an arrangement for
forces of the two countries to coordinate
their naval and aircraft movements to
M
prevent incidents in the contested waters,
but the proposal has been opposed by
Philippine defense officials, two Philippine
officials told The Associated Press.
Filipino nationalists have warned that
any agreement that can undermine the
Philippines’ internationally recognized
exclusive rights to fish and exploit
resources within 200 nautical miles of the
country’s coast would violate the
Philippine Constitution.
Beijing’s
relations
with
Manila
deteriorated over the territorial rifts until
Duterte won the presidency in mid-2016
and sought to rebuild ties with China
while criticizing U.S. security policies in a
dramatic pivot. The administration of
Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III,
had brought the territorial disputes with
China to international arbitration and
won, but China has ignored the outcome.
Duterte has refused to immediately de-
mand Chinese compliance with the ruling,
which invalidated China’s sweeping
claims to the waters, where Beijing has
transformed a string of disputed reefs into
missile-protected island bases.
Duterte’s rapprochement has fostered a
new era of warmer relations with the
Asian economic powerhouse, from which
he has sought trade and investment,
infrastructure financing, and weapons to
fight insurgents. While western govern-
ments have sharply criticized Duterte’s
brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, China
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Xi said he and Duterte “agreed to elevate
our relationship into one of comprehen-
sive, strategic cooperation,” adding, “it
sends a strong message to the world that
our two countries are partners in seeking
common development.”
Xi’s visit to the Philippines is the first by
a Chinese president in 13 years.
More than 300 protesters with placards
reading “Hands Off our Land and Seas”
rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate in
Manila. Another group of protesters later
burned mock Chinese flags near the
presidential palace, where Xi and Duterte
met.
Duterte said Philippine participation in
Beijing’s “Belt and Road Initiative” was
discussed and Xi invited the Philippine
leader to attend the infrastructure loan
program’s second international forum in
China next year.
The ambitious program has been
criticized by the United States as enticing
poor nations into debt bondage and has
warned it could compromise their
independence. Xi has denied that Chinese
loans could lead to a “debt trap.”
Aside from their trade disputes, China
and the United States have wrestled over
Beijing’s assertive claims to the South
China Sea. Chinese officials have asked
Washington to back off from what they say
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is a purely Asian dispute, but the U.S. has
vowed to maintain a presence in the
waters, where it has no claims but has
pledged to promote freedom of navigation
and overflight.
“We will continue to fly and sail
wherever international law allows and our
national interests demand; harassment
will only strengthen our resolve. We will
not change course,” U.S. Vice President
Mike Pence said at a meeting in Papua
New Guinea that was attended by leaders
of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum, including Xi.
q
Hundreds of Chinese arrested
in Cambodia for online scams
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) —
Police in Cambodia have arrested more
than 200 Chinese citizens accused of
defrauding people in China over the
internet.
Gen. Y Sok Khy, director of the Interior
Ministry’s Department of Counter-
Terrorism and Transnational Crime, said
36 women were among the 235 Chinese
arrested in three different villages in
Takeo province, south of the capital,
Phnom Penh.
Online scams by Chinese gangs that
operate from foreign countries and target
mainland
Chinese
are
common
throughout Southeast Asia and have been
found as far away as Kenya and Spain.
Cambodia has arrested and sent at least
1,000 Chinese and Taiwanese residents
allegedly involved in such schemes to
China since 2012.
The scams are carried out by making
phone calls over the internet and employ-
ing deception, threats, and blackmail
against the victims.
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