Kerry: Washington backs resumption of China-Philippines talksJuly 27, 2016 - 10:01 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday, July 26 he supported the resumption of talks between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea, following an international court ruling against Beijing over the dispute earlier this month, Reuters reports. China did not participate in and has refused to accept the July 12 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in The Hague, in which U.S. ally Manila won an emphatic legal victory. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi had asked Kerry to lend his support for bilateral talks to restart between Manila and Beijing in a meeting between the two in the Laos capital of Vientiane on Monday. "The foreign minister said the time has come to move away from public tensions and turn the page," Kerry told a news conference. "And we agree with that ... no claimant should be acting in a way that is provocative, no claimant should take steps that wind up raising tensions." The court ruling has exacerbated tensions between the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which are pulled between their desire to assert their sovereignty while fostering ties with an increasingly assertive Beijing, Reuters says. China scored a diplomatic victory on Monday when ASEAN dropped any reference to the ruling from a joint statement at the end of the bloc's foreign ministers' meeting in the face of resolute objections from Cambodia, China's closest ASEAN ally. Kerry, who was due to travel to the Philippines later on Tuesday, said he would encourage Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to engage in dialogue and negotiations with China when the two meet in Manila on Wednesday. Duterte has already appointed former President Fidel Ramos to visit Beijing and begin informal talks to resolve the dispute, a Philippine Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Lemkin Institute petition seeks release of Armenians in Azerbaijan The Lemkin Institute is deeply concerned about the continued illegal detention of political prisoners from Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Armenian Catholicos calls for national unity against threats Karekin II issued a message on Republic Day marking the anniversary of the First Armenian Republic. Pashinyan: Armenia’s desired goal is “on the horizon” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that Armenia is moving forward “without interruption”. Opposition leader, supporters spend night at Sardarapat memorial Police made nearly 300 arrests the day before as Galstanyan and his supporters continued to demonstrate in Yerevan. |