Former Philippines president Fidel Ramos today named the head of a Chinese government think-tank among the experts and officials he hoped to meet on a trip to rekindle ties with China soured by a maritime dispute in the South China Sea. 
 
On July 12, an arbitration court in the Hague ruled that China had no historic title over the busy waterway and had breached the Philippines&#39; sovereign rights there, infuriating China, which had dismissed the case. 
 
&quot;I&#39;ve always been a very optimistic person, always looking for the best results,&quot; Ramos told reporters in Hong Kong. &quot;But of course that also depends on the attitude of the Chinese officials.&quot; 
 
No details of itinerary&nbsp; 
 
Ramos gave no details of his itinerary or of those he planned to meet, except for Wu Shicun, who heads the National Institute for South China Sea Studies think-tank, based on China&#39;s southern island of Hainan. 
 
Asked about others, such as China&#39;s former deputy minister for Foreign Affairs Fu Ying, Ramos said he did not know yet. 
 
&quot;They all have links with Beijing, because some of them are already retired but elevated to the parliament as chairman of this and that committee.&quot; 
 
Ramos said he sought to improve economic and tourism links, such as by allowing &quot;more fishing in the common fishing ground&quot; of the Scarborough shoal in the Philippines&#39; exclusive economic zone. 
 
&quot;The idea is to use the South China Sea as a place to save lives, but not to kill people or to destroy lives,&quot; he added. 
 
China&#39;s 2012 seizure of the Scarborough Shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access, was among the factors that prompted Manila to seek arbitration. 
 
But China has ignored the court&#39;s ruling that none of its reefs and holdings in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. 
 
&#39;First concrete step&#39; 
 
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, believed to be rich in energy deposits. 
 
Ramos, 88, who described his role as an &quot;icebreaker&quot;, is known for an impromptu duet of Elvis Presley&#39;s &#39;Love Me Tender&#39; with former Chinese president Jiang Zemin at a 1996 banquet. 
 
His trip represents &quot;the first concrete step&quot; in engagement for both sides and &quot;could open a new chapter in settling disputes&quot;, China&#39;s state news agency, Xinhua, said in a commentary. 
 
Ramos was Philippines president from 1992 to 1998, when China occupied the submerged Mischief Reef. 
 
(Reuters)

After the Hague ruling, the former president's visit is being viewed as an opportunity to open a new chapter in settling disputes with China

Former Philippines president Fidel Ramos today named the head of a Chinese government think-tank among the experts and officials he hoped to meet on a trip to rekindle ties with China soured by a maritime dispute in the South China Sea. On July 12, an arbitration court in the Hague ruled that China had no historic title over the busy waterway and had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights there, infuriating China, which had dismissed the case. "I've always been a very optimistic person, always looking for the best results," Ramos told reporters in Hong Kong. "But of course that also depends on the attitude of the Chinese officials." No details of itinerary Ramos gave no details of his itinerary or of those he planned to meet, except for Wu Shicun, who heads the National Institute for South China Sea Studies think-tank, based on China's southern island of Hainan. Asked about others, such as China's former deputy minister for Foreign Affairs Fu Ying, Ramos said he did not know yet. "They all have links with Beijing, because some of them are already retired but elevated to the parliament as chairman of this and that committee." Ramos said he sought to improve economic and tourism links, such as by allowing "more fishing in the common fishing ground" of the Scarborough shoal in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. "The idea is to use the South China Sea as a place to save lives, but not to kill people or to destroy lives," he added. China's 2012 seizure of the Scarborough Shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access, was among the factors that prompted Manila to seek arbitration. But China has ignored the court's ruling that none of its reefs and holdings in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. 'First concrete step' China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, believed to be rich in energy deposits. Ramos, 88, who described his role as an "icebreaker", is known for an impromptu duet of Elvis Presley's 'Love Me Tender' with former Chinese president Jiang Zemin at a 1996 banquet. His trip represents "the first concrete step" in engagement for both sides and "could open a new chapter in settling disputes", China's state news agency, Xinhua, said in a commentary. Ramos was Philippines president from 1992 to 1998, when China occupied the submerged Mischief Reef. (Reuters)

Philippines envoy Fidel Ramos "optimistic" about ice breaking China trip

Inter Milan said on Monday its coach Roberto Mancini is leaving, citing a &quot;mutual agreement&quot; amid media reports the Serie A club&#39;s new Chinese owners decided fresh blood is needed to rejuvenate the team. 
 
&quot;FC Internazionale Milano confirms that it has parted company with head coach Roberto Mancini by mutual agreement,&quot; the club said in a statement 
 
Mancini is tipped in the media to be replaced by Dutch coach Frank de Boer. 
 
Corriere dello Sport and Gazzetta dello Sport reported there was a contract dispute with Mancini and that the Chinese owners, the Suning group, were furious after Inter lost 6-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly in Oslo on Thursday. 
 
Mancini had been a&nbsp;coach for two years and was under contract until 2017. He was given severance pay of 2.5 million Euros ($2.8 million) net, and will take his entire staff with him, Corriere dello Sport said. De Boer left Ajax Amsterdam at the end of last season. 
 
&quot;Inter would like to place on record its thanks to Roberto for the work carried out with the team since joining in November 2014,&quot; the club said. 
 
(AFP)

Media reports however said the Serie A club's new Chinese owners decided fresh blood was needed to rejuvenate the team

Inter Milan said on Monday its coach Roberto Mancini is leaving, citing a "mutual agreement" amid media reports the Serie A club's new Chinese owners decided fresh blood is needed to rejuvenate the team. "FC Internazionale Milano confirms that it has parted company with head coach Roberto Mancini by mutual agreement," the club said in a statement Mancini is tipped in the media to be replaced by Dutch coach Frank de Boer. Corriere dello Sport and Gazzetta dello Sport reported there was a contract dispute with Mancini and that the Chinese owners, the Suning group, were furious after Inter lost 6-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly in Oslo on Thursday. Mancini had been a coach for two years and was under contract until 2017. He was given severance pay of 2.5 million Euros ($2.8 million) net, and will take his entire staff with him, Corriere dello Sport said. De Boer left Ajax Amsterdam at the end of last season. "Inter would like to place on record its thanks to Roberto for the work carried out with the team since joining in November 2014," the club said. (AFP)

Inter Milan says coach Roberto Mancini is leaving by 'mutual agreement'

Vietnam has warned that the inability of Southeast Asian nations to forge a unified front against Beijing&#39;s militarisation of the South China Sea is a &quot;test&quot; of the regional bloc in the face of its greatest security challenge. 
 
The unusually strong comments from a key claimant to the contested waters, comes as diplomats meet in Laos for the first summit since a UN-backed tribunal debunked Beijing&#39;s legal claim to vast stretches of the strategically vital sea. 
 
After talks stuttered on Sunday, Vietnam&#39;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a late night statement warning that the South China Sea had become &quot;a test case for the unity and the central role of ASEAN&quot;. 
 
&quot;Many ministers stressed that in this context, ASEAN should promote solidarity, unity and a central role,&quot; the statement added. 
 
Diplomats met for a new round of crunch talks, called for by Laos today morning.&nbsp;As they came to a close, Indonesia&#39;s foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, expressed optimism that a statement would be agreed to, though diplomats previously told AFP it would likely be &quot;watered down&quot;. 
 
Staunch Beijing ally Cambodia has been accused of scuppering efforts by the bloc to issue a joint statement calling on Beijing to adhere to the UN tribunal&#39;s decision.&nbsp;Four ASEAN members - Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South China Sea.&nbsp; 
 
Most members of the bloc want to keep pressure on China over its campaign of island building in the strategic waters.&nbsp;But ASEAN operates on a tradition of consensus diplomacy, meaning a single nation can have an effective veto power if it disagrees with the others. 
 
China has been accused of teasing poorer members like Laos and Cambodia into fracturing regional unity with promises of aid and trade.&nbsp;Critics have long derided ASEAN for lacking real diplomatic clout. 
 
A failure to respond to the tribunal ruling or the region&#39;s key security issue will do little to counter those claims.&nbsp;The ongoing impasse in Vientiane has led to fears of a repeat of a 2012 summit in Cambodia, where the bloc failed to issue a joint communique for the first time in its history because of disagreements over the South China Sea. 
 
Chinese pressure was blamed last month for a startling show of discord by the bloc, when countries swiftly disowned a joint statement released by Malaysia after an ASEAN-China meeting.&nbsp;That statement had expressed alarm over Beijing&#39;s activities in the South China Sea. Cambodia and Laos were later fingered as being behind moves to block the joint statement. 
 
(AFP)

Four ASEAN members - Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South China Sea

Vietnam has warned that the inability of Southeast Asian nations to forge a unified front against Beijing's militarisation of the South China Sea is a "test" of the regional bloc in the face of its greatest security challenge. The unusually strong comments from a key claimant to the contested waters, comes as diplomats meet in Laos for the first summit since a UN-backed tribunal debunked Beijing's legal claim to vast stretches of the strategically vital sea. After talks stuttered on Sunday, Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a late night statement warning that the South China Sea had become "a test case for the unity and the central role of ASEAN". "Many ministers stressed that in this context, ASEAN should promote solidarity, unity and a central role," the statement added. Diplomats met for a new round of crunch talks, called for by Laos today morning. As they came to a close, Indonesia's foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, expressed optimism that a statement would be agreed to, though diplomats previously told AFP it would likely be "watered down". Staunch Beijing ally Cambodia has been accused of scuppering efforts by the bloc to issue a joint statement calling on Beijing to adhere to the UN tribunal's decision. Four ASEAN members - Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South China Sea. Most members of the bloc want to keep pressure on China over its campaign of island building in the strategic waters. But ASEAN operates on a tradition of consensus diplomacy, meaning a single nation can have an effective veto power if it disagrees with the others. China has been accused of teasing poorer members like Laos and Cambodia into fracturing regional unity with promises of aid and trade. Critics have long derided ASEAN for lacking real diplomatic clout. A failure to respond to the tribunal ruling or the region's key security issue will do little to counter those claims. The ongoing impasse in Vientiane has led to fears of a repeat of a 2012 summit in Cambodia, where the bloc failed to issue a joint communique for the first time in its history because of disagreements over the South China Sea. Chinese pressure was blamed last month for a startling show of discord by the bloc, when countries swiftly disowned a joint statement released by Malaysia after an ASEAN-China meeting. That statement had expressed alarm over Beijing's activities in the South China Sea. Cambodia and Laos were later fingered as being behind moves to block the joint statement. (AFP)

Vietnam warns South China Sea is a 'test' of ASEAN

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