PRESS RELEASE

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Duterte Will Start Three-Day Visit to China on Oct. 18

Oct. 16, 2016 (EIRNS)—Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will arrive in southern China on Oct. 18, to start a three-day visit, which will include meetings with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and National People’s Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang in Beijing. Before leaving for his first stop in Brunei, President Duterte made clear that, while he cannot repudiate the ruling of the Permanent Arbitration Panel in The Hague, which could lead to his impeachment, he declared that “There will be no hard impositions,” during his talks.

“This is a matter of international comity when you go there, we only want to talk. And remember, there are only two options: We go to trouble or we talk. We cannot choose the path there in between.”

Associated Press, in reporting on the upcoming Duterte visit to China, cited recent statements by Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who warned that any effort to concede Philippines’ sovereign rights in disputed South China Sea waters would be grounds for impeachment.