In a sign of easing tensions, President Benigno Aquino III’s expression of gratitude to Taiwan when it urged its citizens not to harm Filipinos was received well by the Taiwanese leaders, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
Malacañang said on Sunday the possible return of United States military bases to the country as stated by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was a “mere scenario in case of an extreme emergency” arising from the Korean crisis.
The port visit of the USS Cheyenne, a nuclear attack submarine belonging to the US Pacific Fleet, has been cleared with Malacañang.
Malacañang is in no hurry to hold the US Navy accountable for its minesweeper that ran aground in the Tubbataha Reefs, even as a militant group has called for an inspection of the ship.
Banking on diplomacy to resolve territorial disputes with China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Malacañang is distancing itself from the US criticism of a Chinese plan to put up a garrison on a tiny island in a distant part of the disputed waters.
The Palace is waiting for China to make good its promise to pull out its ships from Panatag shoal, which would end the three-month-long standoff there.
China has allowed 30 to 40 container vans of Philippine bananas into the country after earlier denying them entry for supposedly harboring insects, Malacañang said Tuesday.
Amid the escalating diplomatic tension with China, Malacañang is sticking with Domingo Lee as its nominee as ambassador to China even if he has been repeatedly bypassed by the Commission on Appointments (CA).
