Palace open to China’s invitation for joint exploration on disputed waters

The Palace on Monday said it is open to the suggestion of the People’s Republic of China to conduct military exercises and energy exploration with ASEAN states in the disputed waters of South China Sea.
China also insisted that non-ASEAN countries, especially the United States should be excluded from the said joint activities in the South China Sea.
“We understand the invitation of China [that] it wants closer cooperation among its neighbors and the US is not its neighbor and therefore we understand that we are amenable to a joint exploration in disputed areas, and we are pushing for 60-40 sharing 60 percent accruing to Filipinos, of course,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing in Malita, Davao Occidental on Monday morning, August 6. — Arjay L. Balinbin