‘This is not the time’ to pursue sea dispute with China, says Duterte

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands after a signing ceremony in Beijing, China, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016. Duterte was meeting Thursday with Xi in Beijing as part of a charm offensive aimed at seeking trade and support from the Asian giant by setting aside a thorny territorial dispute. (Photo by AP)

President Rodrigo Duterte said that even if he were to declare war against China and deploy the entire military resources of the Philippines to do it the Philippines would not win.

“I will not go to war,” Duterte said on Thursday during a one-on-one interview with Jessica Soho which was aired over GMA.

The President was responding to question on why had been mum on the ruling of the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration rebuking China’s massive claim over South China Sea at the right time.

Duterte visited China last October but had no concrete discussions with officials there on the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal.

He said he visited China not to declare war but to talk about trade.

“I will make a noise certainly because I claim to be the owner. But this is not the time,” he said.

Even if the Philippines were fight for and win the territory, he said: “What will I do with it?”

His approach with China would be to play with reality as he acknowledged China’s contribution to the country’s tourism industry and trade.

The administration of his predecessor, President Benigno Aquino III, took the case against China to the tribunal on January 2013, challenging the legality of its nine-dash line claim over nearly the entire South China Sea, including areas included in the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

The arbitral tribunal dismissed China’s nine-dash line claim, saying it was contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). /ATM