By Neil Jerome MoralesMANILA (Reuters) -Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, seeking ways to come up with ways to reduce tensions in the South China Sea and restore Filipino fishermen's access to fishing grounds.
The Philippines and China need to continue to communicate, with the meeting a key part of the process to maintain peace, and keep open sea lanes and airways over the South China Sea, Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in San Francisco.
"We tried to come up with mechanisms to lower the tensions in the South China Sea," Marcos said, without elaborating.
Marcos granted the United States greater access to its military bases, including in provinces facing the South China Sea and democratically-ruled Taiwan, drawing the ire of Beijing.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, ignoring a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated Beijing's expansive claim.
Persons:
Neil Jerome Morales MANILA, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Xi Jinping, Marcos, Xi, Neil Jerome Morales, Kim Coghill
Organizations:
APEC, coastguard, Sea
Locations:
Philippine, South, Philippines, China, South China, San Francisco, United States, Beijing, Taiwan, China's, Manila