Malacañang has instructed Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano to reach out to China and work out an arrangement for more courteous interaction between Philippine troops and elements of the Chinese Coast Guard patrolling the disputed West Philippine Sea.

This developed in the wake of rather abrupt challenges the Chinese Coast Guard issued against units of the Philippine military.

Cayetano said the President is seeking clarification as to how the Chinese Coast Guard could be less belligerent in tone and more welcoming on the presence of Philippine units in the area.

“That’s not how friends treat each other so he asked me to ‘please talk to your counterparts.’ We’ve worked out many things in the past. He’s confident we can work this out,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano vowed to take up the matter with his counterparts in an upcoming visit to Beijing.

On Tuesday, the President called on China to temper its behavior in the West Philippine Sea even as he reminded Beijing that it cannot create man-made islands and claim the air space above them – thus far the strongest words issued by the President against China.

Cayetano claimed there had been other more cordial interactions with China in the disputed area and elsewhere that he interpreted as clear indications of the much-improved relationship between the two countries that negate perceptions that Malacañang treats the issue with kids’ gloves.

According to him, the President is comfortable enough expressing his feelings on Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea.

“I interpret it as even closer relationship (with the Chinese) because the closer you are, the more you can tell each other your feelings,” said Cayetano.

“I don’t see any weakening. I expect even warmer relations. I believe this is an honest off-the-cuff remark of an incident that he feels should be addressed,” he added.

China was criticized by various quarters, including the United States, for supposed efforts to limit the freedom of navigation and overflights in the resource-rich sea.

Recently, a Chinese military shooed away a Philippine military aircraft that flew over the disputed waters in a routine air patrol.

Cayetano said that under the Duterte administration’s “friends to all, enemy to none” independent foreign policy, the Philippine-China bilateral relations has improved since 2016.

“I’d like to say that the ‘friends to all, enemies to none policy’ of this government is prudent. It’s very pragmatic, it’s principled but it also produces results. So, if you look at our old partners, we’re doing a lot with them. If you look at our new friends, Russia and China, we’re also doing a lot with them,” said Cayetano.