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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte with President Xi Jinping in Manila on November 20, 2018. REUTERS / Erik De Castro
Xi Jinping is in the Philippines until Wednesday, November 21 for his first state visit to the country of Rodrigo Duterte. The two presidents celebrated their agreement after signing more than 20 agreements in various sectors. A relationship that contrasts with the quasi-declarations of war of the previous Philippine government in the face of the Chinese offensive in the South China Sea.
With our correspondent in Manila, Marianne Dardard
To hear their respective leaders, relations between China and the Philippines are in good shape. On the one hand, Rodrigo Duterte is looking forward to a "historic opportunity", thirteen years after the last official visit of a Chinese president. On the other hand, Xi Jinping gives him meteorological metaphor, comparing the diplomatic embellishment to " a rainbow after the storm ."
On the first day of this visit, a new harvest of agreements was presented, although the exact terms were not published, including a text on the exploitation of oil and gas resources.
The South China Sea at the heart of the discussions
We know that Beijing and Manila are intensely negotiating about the distribution of these resources in the South China Sea, but still difficult to know what this will actually lead to, as for now the envisaged joint exploration area is not disputed area.
Before the arrival of Xi Jinping, Rodrigo Duterte had in any case aroused an uproar in Filipino opinion, saying that much of " the South China Sea already belonged to the Chinese ."