The leaders of Japan, Philippine and United States are expected to discuss China's recent aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) during the trilateral summit in Washington next week.

"I think we can expect a discussion on the recent incidents. Of course the joint vision statement is still under discussion but we can expect an alignment of views among the three countries on the recent incidents in the West Philippine Sea," Acting Foreign Affairs Deputy Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs Hans Mohaimin Siriban said in a Palace briefing on Friday.

"Of course, we will continue to call on peace and stability and that the recent incidents be solved in a peaceful and diplomatic manner. But, of course, we will note the recent incidents, and our three leaders are expected to include this in their discussion and in the vision statement," he added.

Siriban reiterated that the trilateral cooperation between Philippines, Japan and US "is not directed at any country". He added that the "trilateral summit is significant to help further promote dialogue and peace in the region."

"It is really a deepening of the existing strong bilateral alliances that we’ve had. And, of course, if you look at the areas of discussion that are being looked at, the primary focus really is on economic cooperation, building on economic resilience," he said.

"I think for the Philippines, our interest really is to build economic resilience, and bilaterally, our friends from the US and Japan have been very active in supporting us in a bilateral context," he added.

Although other countries like China, might not be happy about the trilateral summit, Siriban assures that the lines of communication of the Philippines are always open and it "applies to all the countries in the region".

"In fact, we have continuing dialogues with our neighbors, this trilateral summit is one of those dialogues and consultation that he have. So, our lines of communication are always open and we keep on engaging and we will keep on engaging on our all the relevant stakeholders in the region," he said. Robina Asido/DMS