Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is taking a "soft-landing" approach in exploring ways to renew friendly ties with China, which have been strained in the past years over the disputes in the South China Sea, analysts said on Wednesday.
This is a departure from his predecessor Benigno Aquino III, under whom the Philippines unilaterally initiated an arbitration case against China in 2013 over the dispute at the Permannent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
At his first cabinet meeting after he was sworn in on June 30, Duterte, who had said he was open to talking with China about the territorial dispute, stated, "If we can have peace by just talking I'll be really happy."
Richard Heydarian, an associate professor at De la Salle University, said Duterte "is taking a significant different approach, constantly emphasizing necessity for direct engagement and revival of bilateral ties."
"He is signaling that neither the maritime disputes nor the arbitration case should negatively define the texture of overall bilateral relations," Heydarian said.
He said that Duterte was aiming at "a soft-landing" especially after the arbitration verdict is handed down on July 12, "which may mean not aggressively criticizing China."
In exchange, Heyadarian said Duterte will most likely seek for concessions in the South China Sea.
"A lot of horse trading is on the horizon," he said.
NOT EVEN "WAR OF WORDS"
Even before he assumed the presidency, Duterte has made it clear that "I am not ready to go to war," referring to the worst scenario of fighting between China and the Philippines over the disputes in the South China Sea.
Benito Lim, a political science professor, said Duterte wanted to engage China, making his position clear to China that he wanted direct talks and that he did not want to engage China in war, not even "war of words."
"It means that he wants to explore other avenues aside from letting the situation fester in the standoff," Lim said in an interview, adding that Duterte "is trying to look for ways and means by which this long-time standoff can be removed and then agree on things that are mutually beneficial."
Lim said this is a logical step on the part of the Duterte administration, adding that both countries can move on by forging "cooperative and beneficial agreements."
"He is sending a message to China that both countries can agree on mutually beneficial agreements instead of a standoff," Lim said.
"Exploring other avenues by which there can be agreements that are equally beneficial to both is better than saying bad things about each other," he said.
Moreover, he said that Duterte was "addressing" Philippine national interests by making this reconciliatory move with Beijing.
