October 18, 2016

"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who arrives in Beijing on Tuesday for his first state visit to China, said he agrees with Beijing's call for peaceful settlement of the South China Sea issue.

Duterte expects a 'soft landing' in the dispute over the issue. He will visit China for four days.

'I'll be there to talk about it softly,' Duterte told China News Service in an interview released on Monday. 'We take away war or violence, because that is not a good option.'

Duterte, who took office in July, has been faced with repairing chilly ties with Beijing after the Cabinet of former president Aquino Benigno III unilaterally filed a case to an international tribunal on the South China Sea. China did not recognize the case and it declared it invalid.

Read more:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-10/18/content_27089086.htm