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Philippines won't raise legal victory vs China at ASEAN

Philippines won't raise legal victory vs China at ASEAN

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

An aerial photo taken though a glass window of a Taiwanese military plane shows the view of Itu Aba, which the Taiwanese call Taiping, at the South China Sea, on March 23, 2016. Photo: Reuters

MANILA: The Philippines' top diplomat says his country won't raise its recent international arbitration victory against China's territorial claims in the South China Sea during Asian summit talks that Manila will host this year. Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr said Wednesday that pressing last year's arbitration ruling during the annual meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 'is just simply counter-productive for our purposes.' Yasay said the Philippines intends to raise the ruling, which invalidated China's historic claims under a UN treaty, in bilateral talks with Beijing in the future. The Philippines is hosting the ASEAN meetings this year. President Rodrigo Duterte has taken steps to mend strained relations with China while taking an antagonistic stance toward the administration of outgoing US President Barack Obama.