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South China Sea: Manila, Beijing tap backchannel efforts to resolve disputes
- Philippine President Marcos Jnr has revealed that behind-the-scenes discussions are under way to resolve South China Sea issues
- Philippine and Chinese military officials involved in the nations’ disputes in the waterway are set to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore
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Backchannel efforts are under way between Manila and Beijing to find a way to resolve the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has said ahead of his keynote speech at Asia’s top defence summit held in Singapore.
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“You should try everything. You don’t know what effort is going to be successful,” he said on Wednesday in Brunei, en route to Singapore where he is expected to speak at the Shangri-La Dialogue about the Philippines’ efforts to resolve the maritime gridlock with China.
In Singapore, Marcos Jnr and Philippine defence officials will be in close physical proximity to Chinese military officials, who ordered blockades and the use of water cannons against Philippine vessels in a months-long row in the contested waterway.
“Any point of contact that I can establish, I will use it, and at every level, as long as it brings us progress in terms of resolving these [issues],” Marcos Jnr said.
The Philippines and China have been engaged in a war of words in recent weeks, with Beijing accusing Manila of reneging on a “new model” for handling resupply missions to the now-infamous Philippine naval vessel BRP Sierra Madre that was intentionally run aground at Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea.
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Under the supposed model, Manila would only deploy one coastguard vessel and a resupply boat to the shoal, while China would only launch one coastguard ship and a fishing boat.
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