MANILA – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed regional issues on the phone on Wednesday, particularly developments in the tension-filled Korean Peninsula, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The two leaders, who will see each other again soon when Duterte goes to Beijing for the One Belt, One Road Conference, “had a very cordial telephone conversation,” said DFA spokesman Robespierre Bolivar.
“They exchanged views about regional developments and how some concerns can be addressed. For his part, President Duterte shared Philippine positions on several salient issues, especially on developments in the Korean Peninsula, and he referred to China’s important role in promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
Duterte had said that, in his telephone conversation last Saturday night (April 29) with US President Donald Trump, he had pitched to Trump the need to tap China in the Korean crisis. Beijing is Pyongyang’s only ally but has been critical of its missile testing.
DFA said that in his capacity as Chair of ASEAN, Duterte spoke with Xi “about how to further strengthen ties with ASEAN’s dialogue partners and shared the outcomes of the recently concluded successful ASEAN Summit. He also mentioned that as the Chair of ASEAN, ASEAN discussed and agreed on measures to promote asean unity, centrality and solidarity as well as asean commitment to continue promoting peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region.”
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