Overriding a wave of anger following an award by an international tribunal on the South China Sea that did not go in its favour, Beijing on Friday opened several diplomatic channels at once, covering Japan and Vietnam, preceded by imminent talks with the Philippines.
The Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang led the surge of diplomatic activism from Beijing. In Ulan Bator, where he had gone to participate in the Asia Europe Meeting, Mr. Li met with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the Japanese had sought the meeting. But a report by Kyodo, the flagship Japanese news agency, stressed that it was the Japanese Prime Minister who occupied the high-ground during the parleys. “Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that a rules-based international order must be respected,” Kyodo said, quoting a senior Japanese official.
However, a version in the Xinhua news agency, widely at variance with the Kyodo report, asserted that it was Mr. Li who told his Japanese counterpart that since Tokyo is not directly involved in the issue, it should “exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering” in the issue.
Nevertheless, analysts say the meeting is of high significance after a previous statement by the Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on the ruling by the tribunal at the Hague, had incensed Beijing.
Mr. Li also met Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, which also hotly disputed China’s claims. Xinhua quoted Mr. Li as saying that he had called on Vietnam to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Besides, China, on Friday, welcomed the statement by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, expressing willingness to begin talks with Beijing. “The door to settling the issue through dialogue and negotiation has never been closed,” said spokesperson Lu Kang at a daily press briefing.
Despite official statements, there were no signs that hard emotions triggered by the ruling had spilled into the streets, with the Philippines as the target. In Beijing, there were no street demonstrations or any visible signs of protests outside the Philippine Embassy.
Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, had also not erupted into a mood nationalist righteousness after the award.
