Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may discuss purchasing Chinese military equipment during his talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Philippine defense undersecretary, Cardozo M. Luna, told Sputnik in an interview
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may discuss purchasing Chinese military equipment during his talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Philippine defense undersecretary, Cardozo M. Luna, told Sputnik in an interview.
The three-day summit, devoted to the Beijing-promoted Belt and Road Intuitive (BRI) transport and infrastructure project, will kick off in the Chinese capital on Thursday.
"[As] part of the defense cooperation ... we're also buying equipment from China. So that is part of the talk that might be developed there [at the BRI forum]. Our secretary of defense will be with the president when he goes there," Cardozo Luna said.
The undersecretary did not rule out that Duterte might also "bring up the topic of the West Philippine [Sea - the name for the South China Sea in Philippine official government use]," during the talks in Beijing.
For decades, the Philippines and China have been in dispute over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea � a major shipping route and home to fishing grounds that is also potentially rich in gasand oil.
China maintains that it has historic claim to the territory, but in 2013, the Philippines sought international arbitration to settle the dispute, claiming that its geographical proximity to the Spratlys justified its claim to the islands. In 2016, a UN court backed the Philippines' case, but Chinaboycotted the ruling.
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/duterte-may-discuss-buying-chinese-arms-with-604764.html
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