APEC Summit 2015: Xi Jinping Confirms Attendance, Will He Address South China Sea Dispute?
Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose revealed on Tuesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 2015 APEC Summit in Manila.
Jose said in his statement as quoted by The Philippine Star, "The Chinese Embassy in Manila has confirmed that the Chinese Foreign Ministry has officially announced this morning that Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Manila."
According to Yahoo! News, Marciano Paynor director general of the APEC organizing council said that despite his attendance, there is no confirmed bilateral meeting between the Chinese and Philippine presidents. Currently, Aquino has 11 confirmed bilateral meetings during the APEC Summit.
Xi Jinping's attendance has been bleak and uncertain in the past few days after Palace spokesperson Abigail Valte confirmed that China is the only member of the APEC that has not confirmed its attendance.
Meanwhile, Newsweek reported that the Philippines have no plans of raising the issue at the APEC Summit as China is not aware of any plans to discuss such matters.
Chinese Vice foreign minister Li Baodong said, "As far as I know, at this year's summit, there are no plans to discuss the South China Sea." He also added that it is not a secret what the APEC is all about and it greatly speaks about trade and finance between its members.
Although the 2015 APEC Meeting is seen to primarily open doors on economic agendas, according to U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner, talks about the South China Sea dispute may come up one way or the other if it's indeed not included on the main agenda of the meeting.
After the Philippine Government escalated their plea to the arbitration court in the Netherlands, the Chinese Government expressed their disagreement over the matter, saying that they will neither recognize of participate on any of the case filed against them. Despite failing to agree on common ground regarding the disputed South China Sea, both countries expressed their eagerness to have a peaceful relationship.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Philippine counterpart, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, where he said, "China is willing to appropriately handle issues that affect bilateral relations, including maritime ones."
Currently, China has several issues regarding claims on territories including that of Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations recently failed to produce the final result of the meeting after the U.S. and the Chinese delegates fail to agree whether the issue on the disputed South China Sea will be included on the agenda.
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