 Manila could share maritime resources with China: Duterte Manila (AFP) March 23, 2017 - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he was open to sharing resources with Beijing in flashpoint South China Sea waters over which Manila has been given exclusive rights by an international tribunal. Beijing claims most of the sea, including waters close to the Philippine coast, despite the claim being declared as without basis last year by a United Nations-backed tribunal. However, Duterte said the Philippines could not exploit the natural resources on its own. "Even if I wanted to extract everything we do not have the capital. Even the (oil) rig and everything we can't afford it," Duterte told lawyers in Manila. "I would consider sharing it." Duterte's predecessor Benigno Aquino had challenged China's claim to control most of the South China Sea, despite counter-claims by several other nations. The Aquino government in 2013 filed suit at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. The tribunal ruled in favour of Manila last year. However Duterte, who had taken office days before the tribunal ruling, has since reversed Aquino's policy and is seeking billions of dollars of investment and grants from Beijing. Duterte on Thursday repeated earlier pronouncements he would not go to war with China over the disputed claims. He said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed in Beijing last year that they would look to boost faltering trade ties that had been impacted by the sea row. He said he also told Xi Manila would put off a discussion with Beijing on the Hague-based tribunal's ruling. However, Duterte said the two countries would have to address the issue the moment China began to extract minerals in waters over which Manila has exclusive rights to exploit under the tribunal's ruling.
|
The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said Thursday it has approved 13 new prospective members including Canada, in a coup for Beijing after Washington failed to dissuade US allies from signing up.
The Beijing-headquartered multilateral lender, which began operations earlier last year, has been seen by some as a rival to the World Bank and the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank, which was founded in 1966.
The $100 billion AIIB counts several major European countries among its shareholders after they joined up despite Washington's objections.
The bank announced approval of 13 new members Thursday, including Hong Kong, Canada, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Ireland, Hungary, Belgium, Peru, Ethiopia, and the Republic of Sudan.
They will officially join AIIB after making their first deposit of capital and finishing required domestic processes, bringing the bank's total membership to 70, it said in a statement.
"The interest in joining AIIB from around the world affirms the rapid progress we have made to establish the Bank as an international institution," AIIB president Jin Liqun said in the statement.
"I am very proud that AIIB now has members from almost every continent, and we anticipate further applications being considered by our Board of Governors later this year."
Critics feared the bank would set low standards for projects and undermine principles of social, environmental and economic sustainability adhered to by the World Bank and other multilateral development finance institutions.
The United States and Japan -- the world's largest and third-largest economies, respectively -- have notably declined to join the bank.
In June the AIIB approved its first four loans, which totalled over half a billion dollars and were financed jointly with the ADB and World Bank, its putative rivals.
The loans went to projects in Pakistan, Indonesia, Tajikistan and Bangladesh.
China, Nepal discuss joint military exercises
Kathmandu (AFP) March 23, 2017 -
China's defence minister met his Nepal counterpart Thursday pushing ahead plans to hold joint military exercises, a move likely closely watched by India as Beijing boosts its influence in the region.
"We have been discussing joint military exercises with China... the minister was positive about it," Nepal's Defence Minister Bal Krishna Khand told AFP after meeting with Chang Wanquan.
Khand said that dates for the drills -- the first ever between China and Nepal -- were yet to be set.
An army source, who asked not to be named, said the exercises may be dubbed "Sagarmatha Friendship" -- referring to the Nepali name for Mount Everest -- and would focus on disaster response.
Chang Wanquan's three day trip to Kathmandu -- the first by a Chinese defence minister in 15 years -- will include talks with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
The prospect of drills will likely rattle India, which is often accused of playing "big brother" to its tiny neighbour.
Sandwiched between China and India, impoverished Nepal has in recent years ping-ponged between the sphere of influence of Delhi and Beijing as the Asian giants jostle for regional supremacy.
"What we are seeing this week with Chang's visit is more of a military exchange," said James Char, a China expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.
"It is also something that has grown under the current leadership of (China's President) Xi Jinping."
Landlocked Nepal remains dependent on India for the majority of its imports, but the previous administration aggressively courted China as part of a nationalist drive to decrease the country's reliance on Delhi.
China has responded with grand infrastructure promises, including recently pledging $8.3 billion in investment to Nepal -- equivalent to nearly to 40 percent of its entire GDP.
The commitment dwarfed India's investment offer of $317 million.
The current Maoist-led government in Nepal has sought to repair strained ties with Delhi while continuing to accept cash from its powerful northern neighbour.
Prime Minister Dahal is due to fly to China later Thursday and will meet with President Xi next week.
|
|
Tweet |
China denies plans to build on disputed shoal
|
|
|
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
