CLAD in Barong Tagalog, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met separately with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Vice President Sara Duterte and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in Manila on Wednesday.
Wang is on a five-nation swing in Southeast Asia in a bid to ramp up his diplomatic offensive to elevate the level of China’s relationship as a “comprehensive and strategic partner” of Asean, amid recent American overtures to reinvigorate ties in the region.
This is the second high-level delegation that came to Manila in less than a week after President Marcos took office on June 30. Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, together with other Chinese officials, attended Marcos’s inaugural as President Xi Jinping’s special envoy.
“These two high-level delegations by China are very very important to the Philippines,” Marcos said during their initial tête-à-tête in Malacañang Wednesday afternoon.
Vice President Duterte also met Wang in a hotel in Makati.
In the morning, Manalo welcomed Wang Yi as his first guest since he assumed the post of foreign affairs secretary last Friday.
Before their bilateral meeting, the 3.86-kilometer Samal Island-Davao City Connector Project was launched. The project was finalized weeks before President Duterte stepped down from office last month. It involves a RMB2.34-billion or approximately P17.39-billion loan to finance the construction of a two-way, four-lane bridge connecting Davao City and the Island Garden City of Samal in Mindanao.
Both ministers also witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on providing financial services to promote cooperation between the Stock Exchanges of the Philippines and China.
“There is no doubt that the security situation surrounding our countries and our region has become more complex, as political, economic and socio-cultural landscapes continually shift. We also find ourselves rebuilding after the pandemic, which has ravaged our economies and as well as our efforts to reach development goals, such as the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,” Manalo said.
Wang seconded Manalo’s observation on the “uncertain, unstable and complex regional and international dynamics.”
“Given the current circumstances…it is even important that China and the Philippines, as two close neighbors, join hands and further enhance mutual trust, expand mutual beneficial cooperation,” Wang stressed.
The DFA is mum on issues discussed during their expanded bilateral meeting, including whether Manalo has raised again the recent harassment of Filipinos by the Chinese Coast Guard off Ayungin Shoal, Reed Bank and north of Cagayan Valley.
Manalo acknowledged China has been a “good friend and close partner of the Philippines,” especially during the pandemic and recovery from it.
“We have stood shoulder to shoulder in times of great difficulty, helping one another so that we may both bring progress to our respective nations,” Manalo said.
The Chinese state councilor—the highest rank for a Cabinet official in China—said Marcos’s recent assumption into office “has turned a new page” towards what he call a “new Golden Era” of the Philippine-China bilateral relationship.
He stressed that Beijing “highly appreciate[s]” the recent pronouncement of Marcos that China is the Philippines’s “strongest partner.”
“We are ready to work towards that same direction with the Philippines and to plan for our cooperation going forward in all areas of our comprehensive strategic partnership,” he added.
Wang Yi just came from Myanmar and Thailand. He is expected to visit Malaysia and Indonesia after his stint in Manila.
Image credits: Malacañang Presidential Photographers Division via AP