China, Philippines tackle S. China Sea disputes, vow cooperation

China and the Philippines held talks Friday on their South China Sea disputes, the first of their kind since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte came to power last year, and agreed to seek "mutually acceptable approaches" with a view to resolving them, according to a joint statement issued by the two sides.The meeting took place on the same day as Duterte claimed in Manila that China's President Xi Jinping had earlier warned him it would "go to war" if the Philippines "forces the issue" of an international arbitral tribunal ruling last year that invalidated Beijing's sweeping claims in the…READ FULL ARTICLE