Cayetano: No secret deal with China

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER file photo

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday denied speculations that the Duterte administration had secret dealings with China.

“We held no secret meetings. All the meetings are on the record,” he told reporters.

Reacting to calls for transparency on the Philippines dealing with China, Cayetano stressed that all the meetings between the administration and Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping, Vice President Wang Qishan and Premier Li Kequiang were all on record.

“There are no secret deals. We are working out the issues, and principles are being discussed,” he said.

Cayetano claimed that it was the Aquino administration that was not transparent with its handling of territorial rows with China.

READ: Cayetano to Aquino: Was Del Rosario transparent with you?

He said Manila, as a claimant state, will continue to engage Beijing and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to pursue a code of conduct on the South China Sea. /jpv