Philippines' Duterte plans China visit to discuss South China Sea ruling

MANILA, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte will soon meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to
discuss a 2016 arbitration case over the South China Sea, his
spokesman said on Tuesday, as domestic pressure grows on the
firebrand leader to stand up to Beijing.
Despite his huge popularity and polls consistently
delivering an approval rating of 80 percent and over, the same
surveys have shown Filipinos have little trust of China and want
their government to stand up to perceived maritime bullying.
Among the most contentious issues is Duterte's decision to
set aside a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
in the Hague to curry favour with Beijing, in exchange for vague
pledges of billion-dollar investment packages that largely have
yet to materialise.
That ruling made clear numerous Philippines maritime
entitlements under international law and effectively invalidated
China's controversial nine-dash line claim to sovereignty over
most of the South China Sea.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said he had asked
Duterte whose idea it was to hold fresh talks with Xi.
"Remember that I said before that there will be a time when
I will invoke that arbitral ruling?," Panelo told a regular
briefing, quoting Duterte.
"'This is the time. That's why I am going there' - that's
what he said," Panelo added.
He did not give a date for Duterte's trip to China but said
it was likely before the end of this month.
The trip would come at a time when China is receiving
international pushback over the conduct of coastguard and
fishing militia in disputed areas of the South China Sea,
including from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who last
week blasted Beijing for "decades of bad behaviour", in trade
and at sea. Although Duterte, who is known for scolding Western leaders,
has stood by China and defended his policy of rapprochement and
non-confrontation, his defence officials have spoken out.
Two diplomatic protests have been filed, the first over what
the Philippines said was a recent "swarming" of more than 100
Chinese fishing boats near a tiny Philippine-occupied island.
The other was about an unannounced passage in July of five
Chinese warships through the Philippines' 12-mile territorial
sea, which Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said was "a
failure to observe protocol or common courtesy".
A Social Weather Stations poll published last month showed
most Filipinos wanted the government to assert its claim to
disputed islands in Spratlys and arrest Chinese fishermen caught
destroying marine resources.
Panelo also said Duterte was interested in furthering
discussions about jointly exploring "60-40" for offshore energy
reserves inside the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)