China willing to settle maritime disputes with Philippines

China on Thursday expressed a willingness to settle maritime disputes with the Philippines "through dialogue and consultation" after newly-elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he would uphold the 2016 international court ruling on the South China sea to assert his country's territorial rights.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea on historic grounds, while the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have overlapping claims in the region. In 2016, a UN-backed tribunal invalidated most of China's claims and said it had violated the rights of Filipinos to fish at the shoal. But Beijing has long ignored the decision.

During an interview on Thursday, Marcos said he would not allow the country's "maritime coastal rights to be trampled upon" and that his government has been talking to China with "a firm voice." Asked about the remarks at the daily news briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that China had a "consultation mechanism" with the Philippines to handle maritime issues.

Separately, Wang urged the US to make a "political decision as soon as possible" on the Iranian nuclear issue after a US top negotiator said the prospect of returning to a nuclear deal, struck in 2015, was "tenuous." In Thursday's briefing, Wang also commented on China's proposal for 10 small Pacific nations to endorse a sweeping agreement, covering everything from security to fisheries, saying it was part of Beijing's "long-term strategic policy" to "develop friendly and cooperative relations" with those nations. Australia scrambled to counter that move by sending Foreign Minister Penny Wong to Fiji to shore up support in the Pacific.