PH diplomats, Beijing push for talks on South China Sea dispute

Philippine diplomats and Beijing all agree that Beijing and Manila should go back to the negotiating table and resolve the long-running South China Sea territorial dispute peacefully. “You can’t resolve an issue without talking to each other,” former Philippine ambassador to the United Nations Lauro Baja told reporters in an interview at the Department of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Pasay City shortly after the private memorial tribute in honor of the late Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Tuesday afternoon. Baja helped negotiate the 2002 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Former Philippine ambassador to Belgium, Sweden, and France, and Special Envoy of the Philippines to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights Rosario Manalo agree with his colleague that the best thing for both countries is to “sit down and talk.” According to Ambassador Manalo, the first woman [...]