President Duterte met last Tuesday with a delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The President affirmed “our desire and wish of the Filipino people to make our bonds stronger,” Malacañang said. The meeting was held amid reports of China’s increased construction activities on Kagitingan Reef in the South China Sea, with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana recommending that a diplomatic protest be filed if the reports of a military buildup on the reef are confirmed. The same week, American Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim reiterated in a television interview the United States commitment to defend the Philippines in case of foreign attack. He added that while the US is not a claimant to any island or reef in the South China Sea, it is deeply concerned that any dispute be peacefully resolved. He reiterated that the US government will also continue to protect international rights such as freedom of navigation in and freedom of flight over international waters.

Benefits from China assurance from the US. (2018, January 15). Manila Bulletin, p. 9.