We support the decision to include the disputed territories issue in the agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte in his visit to China later this month. As of press time, Mr. Duterte is expected to bring up this sensitive topic with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. That said, we would be disappointed if that is all that they talk about. Plus, it would be sad if that would be the public’s only takeaway.

Most Filipinos, the media included, have been obsessed with the territorial issues and asserting our claim. We should not ignore those, but we should not allow them to define our relations with China either. Many other issues also matter, such as our our economic interests, things like bilateral trade, foreign direct investments and people-to-people relations.