China and the Philippines reaffirmed Friday their commitment to
working out a peaceful and amicable settlement of their differences
on the South China Sea issue.
Visiting Chinese top legislator Li Peng and his Filipino
counterpart Speaker of the House Jose De Venecia agreed during
their meeting that the two nations have in recent years contributed
significantly to regional stability by maintaining good
communication and coordination on the issue.
The Philippines side in recent years has made territorial claims
over China's Huangyan Island based on its claimed 200-nautical-mile
exclusive economic zone. However, both sides agreed to solve the
dispute through negotiation and coordination.
On
the sensitive issues of common concern to Southeast Asian
countries, China and the Philippines have expressed on many
occasions that they promote the adoption of the proposed Code of
Conduct in the South China Sea by China and the ASEAN (Association
of Southeast Asian Nations) countries.
Two days after the first anniversary of the September 11 incident,
China and the Philippines Friday pledged their staunch support of
the international campaign against terrorism.
In
a later press conference, when asked to comment on their stance on
anti-terrorism, Li said that China understands and supports the
campaign the Philippines is waging against terrorism and said
China, as a victim of terrorism itself, is always against
terrorism, adding that the United Nations has the key role in the
campaign.
De
Venecia expressed to Li his personal appreciation of the Chinese
Government's continued attention to the welfare of the 140,000
Filipino contract workers in Hong Kong.
Friday Li also met with acting President of the Senate Juan
Flavier. Li is expected to meet President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Saturday.
(China
Daily September 14, 2002)