APEC conference does not discuss East Sea issue
GMA News (Philippines) reported at a press conference in Manila on October 29, Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Laura Del Rosario announced that President Benigno Aquino III will attend the APEC summit in Beijing (from November 9 to 11).
She said the South China Sea dispute between the Philippines and China would not be discussed at the summit. She explained that APEC economies span South America so the parties would not discuss the dispute that only involves China and Southeast Asia.
She affirmed that APEC has never discussed any political issues at its summits. She said that in the upcoming APEC meeting, the Philippines and China will focus on economic work to ensure that economic issues that were not resolved at this year's meeting will be raised again at next year's APEC meeting in the Philippines.
The day before, according to the Rappler news site (Philippines), speaking at the 14th Global CEO Conference in Singapore organized by Forbes magazine (USA), Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confided that the maritime dispute in Asia had kept him up at night because he was concerned about regional peace.
He said he felt tensions in the South China Sea and East China Sea disputes were increasing. “I don’t think any of the claimants will push the dispute to the point of going beyond the limit. We have to hope that no wrong steps will be taken,” he said.
He believes that the dispute cannot be resolved quickly because touching sovereignty means touching national pride, so no country will give in. He concludes that the parties to the dispute can live with the disagreement and find ways to manage the disagreement. He hopes that future generations will have a way to resolve the dispute.
As for the US, he said that the US can play a constructive role in maritime disputes. He noted that as a Pacific power, the US needs to focus more on Asia and needs to maintain good relations in Asia, including with China.
According to PLO
