Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Reuters)Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to exercise restraint to maintain peace in the South China Sea, Manila's presidential office said on Saturday. "The leaders stressed the need to exert all efforts to maintain peace, security and stability in the South China Sea by exercising restraint, dissipating tensions and working on a mutually agreeable framework for functional cooperation," the presidential office said in a statement. Since taking office in 2016, Duterte has pursued warmer ties with Beijing, setting aside a longstanding territorial spat over the South China Sea in exchange for billions of dollars of aid, loans and investment pledges. The two presidents spoke of the importance of continuing discussions and concluding the code of conduct on the South China Sea.

Source: The Standard April 09, 2022 16:05 UTC