Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 6) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expects tensions between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea to abate following his state visit to the East Asian superpower.
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Marcos told Filipino reporters in Beijing on Thursday that this will be done by raising the level of discussion to a ministerial level and making sure that the bilateral teams of both countries have direct access to both presidents so “nothing will be lost in translation.”
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“I wanted to raise the level of discussion to maybe a ministerial level and that and with a direct access to both presidents. Kaya’t (That is why)— the intention of course is to minimize all of these ‘incidents’… I think it will, definitely,” he said.
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Marcos said incidents like alleged harassments by the Chinese Coast Guard against Filipino fishermen happen because of lack of rapid communication.
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“When lines of communication are open at mabilis makapag-decision si President Xi, makapag-decision ako kaagad, palagay ko marami tayong mababawasan diyan sa mga problemang nakikita natin ngayon,” he pointed out.
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[Translation: When lines of communication are open and President Xi and I will be able to decide immediately, I think we can resolve many of the problems we have now.]
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Marcos also said that the plight of Filipino fishermen and their need to freely fish in their natural fishing grounds was a very important issue that the two leaders also discussed.
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“Clearly that’s a very important issue for us,” he said, adding that he expects the matter to be addressed “after we came to an agreement with President Xi that this is an important aspect of our relationship and it’s something that is easily remedied, relatively easily remedied.”
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READ: Marcos: Xi promises to find ‘compromise’ that will allow Filipinos to fish in WPS
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Marcos said Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and his Chinese counterpart “will finalize the organization of that and the situation with our fishermen will be number one on the agenda.”
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Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source on Friday, Rommel Banlaoi, former president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies, said the recent meeting between the two leaders raised expectations as to how they will work on improving the relationship between the two countries, especially in terms of addressing issues related to the disputed waters.
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