“The foreign minister said very clearly the time has come to move away from public tensions and turn the page,” Kerry told reporters. China-Philippines should ‘turn page’ on sea row: KerryVientiane, Laos – The Philippines and China should “turn the page” and hold talks over contested areas of the South China Sea after a tribunal shot down Beijing’s claims to the strategic waterway, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday. “I would encourage President Duterte to engage in dialogue, in negotiations,” Kerry told reporters in Laos, referring to the tough-talking new Philippines leader. Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay told reporters that he supported that approach, describing the tribunal case as a dispute just between Beijing and Manila. The Philippines, which says it owns areas claimed by China, took the case to a Hague-based tribunal for arbitration.

Source: Manila Bulletin July 26, 2016 10:07 UTC