Economic benefits key to Duterte’s China stance

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is expected to maintain close ties with China despite its refusal to budge on its disputed claims to the South China (West Philippine) Sea, according to a Fitch Group unit.

In a report released on Friday, Fitch Solutions said Duterte’s August 28 visit to China signaled his intent to maintain warm relations. It also said that although he faced political pressure in June after a Chinese vessel rammed into a Philippine fishing boat in the Reed Bank and caused the latter to sink, the President argued that he had a deal with Beijing that allowed the Chinese to fish in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).