The Philippines has again called for a 'formal' dialogue with China to ease tensions between the two countries over ownership of the disputed South China Sea.

Former Filipino President and current President Rodrigo Duterte's special envoy Fidel Ramos repeated his country's offer of formal talks with China to explore ways of strengthening cooperation between two countries.

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Ramos' made the statement on Friday during his visit to Hong Kong where he met a former Chinese diplomat Fu Ying.

"They discussed, in their private capacity, the way forward in the spirit of universal brotherhood and sisterhood for peace and cooperation between the two countries," said a joint statement released after the meeting.

China has said that it is also keen to hold talks with the Philippines after a U.N. court ruling damaged bilateral relations between both countries. The Hague-based Court of Arbitration, in its long pending verdict, rejected China's claims over the disputed South China Sea in its long verdict on July 12th.

Beijing, which has claimed almost all of the contested region, strongly opposed the verdict. The Asian superpower continues to build up its military facilities in several areas of the contested South China Sea islands. More recently, a report by a United States-based group Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) claimed that Beijing had completed military hangars on the Mischief, Subi and Fiery Cross reefs in disputed Spratly Islands.  

"Except for a brief visit by a military transport plane to Fiery Cross Reef earlier this year, there is no evidence that Beijing has deployed military aircraft to these outposts. But the rapid construction of reinforced hangars at all three features indicates that this is likely to change," the report said. 

Tagschina, Philippines, South China Sea, Fidel Ramos, formal talks