PRESIDENT Duterte is set to attend a virtual meeting today between member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China.
“Upon the invitation of President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, the President will join his ASEAN counterparts to take stock of the achievements of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations over the past three decades and chart the future of the partnership for the next 30 years. The Special Summit will be co-chaired by President Xi and His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, the ASEAN Chair for 2021,” Malacañang said in a statement late Saturday.
President Duterte is expected to express the Philippines’ position on key areas of cooperation and regional issues during the special summit which will also commemorate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, said presidential assistant for foreign affairs Robert Borje.
Duterte, in the past weeks, attended virtual summits of the ASEAN and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Borje said he will join the President in the latest event, together with Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Social Welfare Undersecretary Luzviminda Ilagan, and Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go.
Duterte’s attendance in the virtual event follows an incident involving Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocking and firing water cannons at two Philippine boats that were on a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
The Department of Foreign Affairs condemned the incident, adding that what the Chinese Coast Guard did was illegal as the Ayungin Shoal or Second Thomas Shoal is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but China said its coast guard was only defending its sovereignty as the Philippine vessels intruded its territory.
