Team Pilipinas’ first five President Rodrigo Duterte, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea (partly covered), Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana make up the first five in tackling talks about solidifying relations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and contingent. AFP

BEIJING — The fifth official visit to China is about building, not burning, bridges as President Rodrigo Duterte told his counterpart Chinese President Xi Jinping, while challenges remain, commitment stays for a “comprehensive strategic cooperation.”

Only four months since his last visit to the East Asian giant, the President is back in Beijing to discuss key issues hounding Philippine-China relations, one of them the long-standing territorial dispute over the West Philippine Sea.

In response, Xi said he is “happy to see an old friend” and that he will be “very happy to work with the President to improve the relationship of both countries to contribute to a positive energy.”

Citing both countries’ friendly ties built the past three years, Mr. Duterte, in his bilateral meeting with Xi at the Diaoyutai Guest House here, said, “It is never too soon” to resume talks on how to peacefully resolve the matter.

“Today, let us reaffirm the value of our relationship, both personal and official, as well as the trust and respect in pursuit of mutual benefit that we have been building for the last three years,” the President said in his opening remarks.

“The channels for dialogue fully opened, agreements signed and projects underway, there is a clear path of partnership and convergence,” he added.

The Chief Executive in recent weeks have openly stated that nobody can stop him from raising the 2016 landmark decision by The Hague-based court upholding the Philippines’ rights over its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), an issue Beijing have always rejected and refused to talk about.

What could have made China change its mind and agree to sit down and discuss it was the reassurance that it will be a “diplomatic exchange of views” to “understand where the differences lie.”

“Today, we observe a fresh impetus indeed or a stronger momentum together. That is to determine steps needed along a common road that lead us to goals as strong and a special relationship that is mutually respectful, collectively beneficial, undecidedly reciprocal,” stated the President.

The government is acting with urgency in its oil and gas exploration deals with China to secure energy supply in the country for the coming years, Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana earlier noted.

“There is a hope that we move forward, because it’s very important for the Philippines. The basic issue here, if you look at the big picture, is really one of energy security,” the diplomat said in a press conference here.

The envoy added that both parties would like to pursue joint exploration in disputed and undisputed areas in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea without giving up legal positions on certain issues.

“[I]f you look at the MoU (memorandum of understanding), there is a statement there: On the one hand we follow the spirit of the UN Charter, UNCLOS, international law; on the other hand, both sides will proceed without giving up their positions, their legal positions on certain issues,” he said.

Teamwork means victory President Rodrigo Duterte and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping again meet in the fifth official visit to China. The two leaders will watch today the opening of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup tournament.

“So, we are trying to find a way within certain parameters to move forward. So far, it will take a lot of flexibility and pragmatism on both sides,” he added.

The Philippines and China signed the MoU on oil and gas cooperation in November last year. It served as a roadmap for parties to move forward discussions and possible areas of cooperation.

According to the ambassador, the bilateral meeting of President Duterte and President Xi last night aims to agree on “general points,” a consensus that will “provide the impetus for the working groups on both sides to continue and work on the details” of the joint exploration.

Currently, there is a moratorium on exploration and drilling activities in the West Philippine Sea due to tensions in the disputed waters.

“The plan is to make the framework ready so that the steering committee can start the ball rolling as well as the work groups, and they can start meeting, so that the service contract which has been affected by the moratorium can also proceed,” Sta. Romana said.

“Malampaya is running dry. And it’s going to affect our power supply. So, that’s why the President is moving with a sense of urgency to move the process forward especially in his last three years,” the envoy said.

Mr. Duterte’s visit to China is anchored on the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup tournament in which Chinese and Philippine teams have become a hot-selling issue among media in Beijing.

In addition to the high-profile arrangements for his visit — meetings with President Xi and Premier Li Keqiang — basketball also features prominently on his itinerary.

He will attend today the opening ceremony of the basketball joust in Beijing with President Xi.

Then he will watch a game in Guangdong province — possibly the one featuring the Philippines and Italy on Saturday evening in Foshan, accompanied by Vice-President Wang Qishan.

What is being termed as basketball diplomacy highlights the friendly relations Beijing and Manila have cultivated since the President took office, according to mouthpiece China Daily.

It noted that “for all the speculation about the two countries’ territorial dispute in the South China Sea being a potentially frost-inducing item on Duterte’s agenda, there is every reason for both parties to make sure his visit is constructive and fruitful.”

If the 13 agreements on bilateral cooperation signed during his first official visit to China in October 2016 were considered rewarding, the latest programs under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the “Build, Build, Build” campaign represent a higher level of mutually beneficial cooperation.

“Manila’s infrastructure program put forward in 2017, which focuses on such large-scale projects as railways, highways, airports and seaports, can dovetail seamlessly with the Belt and Road Initiative’s connectivity ambitions,” China Daily added.

The two sides have already signed cooperation documents on three major railway projects in the Philippines.

Five more cooperation agreements, covering trade, border control and infrastructure construction, are expected to be signed during the five-day visit.