Aquino, Xi to sit next to each other at APEC meeting

Manila: Philippine President Benigno Aquino and China’s President Xi Jinping will be seated next to each other during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit in Manila next week, sources said.

“The opportunity for Presidents Aquino and Xi will always be there — if they wish to talk about issues that are bilateral in nature,” National Organising Committee Director General Marciano Paynor told Gulf News ahead of the APEC’s leaders’ meeting in Manila from November 18 to 19.

Aquino and Xi have no scheduled bilateral talks during next week’s event, but they could arrange “an impromptu meeting,” said a foreign affairs source who requested anonymity.

Ties between the Philippines and China have been frosty since Manila elevated in 2013 its complaint against Beijing’s claim of the whole of the South China Sea before The Hague-based and United Nations’-recognised Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The Philippines wants to wait for the court’s ruling in 2016 and has rejected China’s request to drop the arbitration case.

Meanwhile, the Philippine government has assured Xi’s security when he arrives in Manila next week, said Paynor, adding there is an adequate security for the Chinese Embassy in Makati City.

Rallies against APEC and China are designated in areas away from Manila’s Mall of Asia and the Philippine International Convention Centre where the two-day event will be held, said Paynor.

Protesters burn mock American flags during a rally outside of the US Embassy to protest alleged US military's involvement in the row between the Philippines and China on the disputed islands in the South China Sea, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. The protesters are opposing the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama next week to the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit of Leaders. (AP)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario met earlier to discuss Xi’s safety in Manila. They also agreed that the South China Sea issue should not be discussed at the APEC meeting.

China has been criticised for enhancing reefs and shoals into islands for alleged militarisation in the South China Sea. Three of these are within Philippines’ exclusive economic zone — in the West Philippine Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam are also locked in overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

APEC is composed of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile (not Childe), China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines (not listed), Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taipei, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam. They represent 40 per cent of the world’s economy.