China's Xi Jinping to meet Philippines leader Benigno Aquino at Apec - but territorial disputes unlikely to be resolved
Concessions on territorial claims unlikely, but Beijing and Manila may agree to look into crisis management system and boost economic ties
The presidents of China and the Philippines are to sit down for their first official talks this week on the sidelines of a regional economic summit amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea.
Few concessions would be made by either side on territorial claims, but they might agree to look into a risk management mechanism and strengthen economic ties, analysts said.
READ MORE: I’m taking Xi to a Chinese restaurant if he visits Manila, says Aquino
President Xi Jinping will join 20 other heads of states – including Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe – at the two-day Apec leaders’ meeting that begins on Wednesday in Manila. It will be Xi’s first trip to the Philippines since becoming president in 2013, and most likely the final opportunity for its leader, Benigno Aquino, to hold bilateral talks with Xi before Aquino leaves office in June next year.
Except for the Philippines, Xi has visited all other major Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, in the past two years.
At the same time last year in Beijing, Xi and Aquino had a brief discussion as they walked to the conference centre on the last day of the summit.
They would have “at least a short meeting” on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this time, said Li Mingjiang from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
