Strong political will from both sides, coupled with quiet diplomacy to handle contentious issues and consider each other’s concerns, and is leading to flexibility in China-Philippines management of their maritime disputes.

That Beijing and Manila have smoothly maneuvered a new bilateral consultation mechanism for the South China Sea issue in such a short time — and made it a platform for confidence-building as well as maritime and security cooperation — is praiseworthy. It also demonstrates the futility of outside interference in the sea issue.

As expected, China may face criticism at this year’s Shangri-La Asia Security Summit in Singapore. While the U.S. may strike a balance in the keynote policy speech by Defense Secretary James Mattis, Japan is likely to wage a PR campaign against China.

China is "strongly dissatisfied" with the mention of the East and South China Sea issues in a Group of Seven (G7) statement, and the G7 allies should stop making irresponsible remarks, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.

Beijing strongly condemned Washington on Thursday over a US Navy warship sailing close to the Nansha Islands without permission, and warned that such action could damage the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

The report lays out the differing strategic perceptions of the United States and China with respect to some of the most topical and challenging issues on the U.S.-China agenda today. These starkly differing perceptions inform and exacerbate actual policy and fuel mistrust and broad mutual strategic suspicion.

Maritime trade accounts for 90% of world trade, therefore international “choke points” like the Strait of Malacca are critically important for China, the largest trading nation in the world. The PLA Navy harbors no ambitions to control these straits, but it doesn’t want the straits to be controlled by others, either. The psychological effect of a Chinese carrier offshore would help “to subdue the enemy without using force”.

Freedom of navigation operation at disputed Mischief Reef is first under Trump

During his second official visit to Beijing in less than a year, Duterte held formal talks with both Chinese President Xi Jinping as well as Premiere Li Keqiang, where the two neighbors reaffirmed their commitment to look beyond their difference in the South China Sea and, instead, focus on areas of common concern. In exchange for these diplomatic and strategic concessions, Duterte expects China to serve as a key partner for his country’s national development. China’s new Silk Road initiative, in particular, has caught the Philippines’ attention.

If there ever was a time when Asian nations could ignore transatlantic affairs or when Europe could proceed without considering Asian developments, those days are long gone.