Duterte to attend ASEAN-China Special Summit following Ayungin incident

Malacañang announced Saturday that President Rodrigo Duterte would attend a virtual meeting of Southeast Asian leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 22.

“Upon the invitation of President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, the President will join his ASEAN counterparts to take stock of the achievements of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations over the past three decades and chart the future of the partnership for the next 30 years,” the Office of the President said in a statement.

“President Duterte is expected to articulate Philippine positions on key areas of cooperation and regional issues,” it added.

Duterte’s participation was confirmed days after the Department of Foreign Affairs slammed the Chinese Coast Guard for blocking and firing water cannons at two Philippine boats that were on a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. 

China on Thursday said its coast guard upheld its sovereignty when the Philippine vessels on Tuesday intruded into what it claimed were its waters. Ayungin Shoal or Second Thomas Shoal lies within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

In a statement on Friday, the United States reaffirmed that an armed attack on Philippine public vessels in the South China Sea would invoke US mutual defense commitments under the 1951 Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty.

The summit will be co-chaired by Xi and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year.

Duterte will be joined by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Presidential Assistant for Foreign Affairs Robert Borje and Social Welfare Undersecretary Luzviminda Ilagan.

Duterte earlier attended a virtual meeting of the ASEAN for the second straight year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was joined by leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, host of the 38th and 39th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits. — VBL, GMA News