By Shannon Tiezzi

November 11, 2015

"Fresh off the Chinese president's tours of Vietnam and Singapore last week, China's Foreign Ministry had another announcement on Monday: Xi Jinping also plans to attend the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit, to be held November 18-19 in the Philippines. That will bring Xi into the lion’s den, so to speak. Manila has been one of the most outspoken critics of China's moves in the South China Sea, even filing a case against China in an international arbitral tribunal. It's another indication that China is trying to mend frayed relationship with ASEAN states, even as Xi shows no sign of changing his country's approach to the maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

Tensions between China and the Philippines are especially high. Philippine President Benigno Aquino hasn't met with Xi since last year's APEC summit in Beijing, when the two had a brief encounter on the sidelines of the summit. According to Marciano Paynor, the head of the Philippines’ APEC organizing committee, an official bilateral meeting between the two leaders has not yet been scheduled, but they are expected to meet."

Read more:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/chinas-president-will-head-to-philippines-for-apec-summit/

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