Could Xi come to Manila? Palace says visit could help settle tension

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said Chinese President Xi Jinping would be welcome at this month’s ASEAN leaders’ summit in Manila as an opportunity to address tensions with the Philippines, although Beijing has yet to confirm whether he will attend.

"It would really be better if China's leadership comes, because it is a better opportunity to talk about whatever rifts there may be and to have the chance to resolve them there," Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said at a briefing Tuesday, November 3 in Filipino. 

"That is the very reason for a summit — so that whatever issues there are among the region can be discussed and settled," she said.

Asked whether Marcos had followed through on the invitation he floated last year to Xi, Castro said the Palace did not yet have details and referred the question to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits will run from November 16 to 18.

This closes the Philippines' year as chair of the 11-member bloc before Singapore takes over in 2027. 

The November summit is the larger of the year's two summits because it brings in dialogue partners such as China, Japan and the United States. 

US President Donald Trump is expected to attend.

China has not said who will lead its delegation and the DFA has yet to confirm Xi's attendance.

Beijing traditionally sends its premier to ASEAN summits. 

Xi is also due to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19, according to China's foreign ministry, which overlaps with the final day of the ASEAN summit in Manila.

Marcos first raised the idea of a Xi visit in October 2025 when he said he would "certainly invite" Xi to Manila.

“If we get to that point where President Xi will actually consider coming to the Philippines, it would mean that we have made significant progress [on the South China Sea Code of Conduct]. And that would be a great thing," Marcos said at the time. 

The Chinese president has not visited Manila since a state visit in November 2018, during the Duterte administration.

China has no set term limits for presidents. 

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, an area that overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. 

The code, under formal negotiation between ASEAN and China since 2013, is meant to set rules of behavior in the contested waters rather than settle maritime claims. 

Relations between Manila and Beijing have worsened this year, one factor being the continued barbs being traded between China's embassy in Manila and Philippine officials. 

On October 19, Lazaro summoned Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan over his remark days earlier that "if we want to use force, we may easily win," telling him it was "provocative and unacceptable." 

Marcos said the comment sounded like a threat.

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