The Philippines is looking forward to the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping according to Alan Peter Cayetano, the country's foreign affairs secretary.
Cayetano said President Rodrigo Duterte invited President Xi when the two first met during the former's state visit to Beijing in October 2016.
No official date has been set yet, but Cayetano said meeting might probably be scheduled later this year, citing numerous preparations that are typical during high-level visits.
"Remember when presidents at this level meet, there are a lot of preparations and a lot of things that they want to announce," Cayetano explained.
When President Duterte visits other countries, they go home with agreements in different fields of cooperation so we're working on that as if it will happen in the next few months. But we're looking at the latter part of the year," Cayetano said in an official statement.
Meanwhile, Cayetano announced separately that Duterte approved the establishment of a technical working group that will work on the Philippines-China joint exploration in the South China Sea. The group will have representatives from the country's Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Energy, the Department of National Defense, National Security Council, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
More importantly, there will also be a legal team from the country's Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General. This team will be tasked to focus on oil and gas, on Constitutional law, and on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Cayetano also mentioned that he is hoping to finish the draft framework on joint explorations by September 2018. He maintained that any deal on the joint exploration talks would be in favor of the Philippines.
Cayetano recognized that both China and the Philippines have specific claims over the disputed waters. Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan also have claimed to the South China Sea.
With all sides to consider, a joint exploration talks instead of setting the territorial dispute right away will better guide the discussions.
"We also have indisputable sovereignty over our territory which is defined by the Philippine Constitution, and we also have indisputable claims under the UNCLOS. But again, where do we take it from there?" Cayetano highlighted.
"For us to come to some agreement, which is the same with the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, we have to put aside territorial and sovereign rights claims but not abandon them," Cayetano said.
