Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Teresa Lazaro will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week as the Philippines holds the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers meeting.

Dominic Xavier Imperial, spokesperson of the Department of the Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a briefing Monday that the date of the meeting and the agenda were not disclosed.

However, the Philippines filed a diplomatic protest against China last week over a depiction of Filipinos as a monkey and subservient to the United States and Japan by a China Daily video on the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award.

According to the DFA, the Philippines first conveyed its firm objection to the offensive content when Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Leo Herrera-Lim raised the matter directly with Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan in a face-to-face meeting on July 16.

The Philippines on Monday began hosting the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings, bringing together ASEAN foreign ministers, strengthen ASEAN unity and centrality, and deepen regional and international cooperation. Lazaro will chair the series of meetings this week.

The week’s engagements begin with the 16th Interface Meeting with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights on Monday afternoon, where ministers are expected to discuss regional human rights developments and other priority issues.

On July 21, the 59th AMM will formally convene where ministers are expected to review ASEAN’s progress across its three Community Pillars, assess developments in external relations, and exchange views on key regional and international issues.

Imperial said the ministers are expected to adopt two important outcome documents such as the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Joint Communiqué, which will outline the discussions, decisions, and common positions reached during the meeting, and the Guidelines on the Modalities for Engagement of ASEAN with High Contracting Parties to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia—a Philippine Chairship deliverable designed to provide a structured framework for engaging states that have acceded to the treaty but are not ASEAN dialogue partners.

From July 22 to 23, ASEAN Foreign Ministers will hold Post-Ministerial Conferences with External Partners, including those from India, the United States, Canada, Russia, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

The Philippines will also host the 27th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (APT), the 33rd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the 16th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (EAS). The week will culminate on July 24 with the Philippines’ hosting of the commemorative activity marking the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). PHS