CHINA’S State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang is flying to Manila over the weekend for an official visit, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said.
This will be Qin’s first visit to Manila since he became foreign minister in December 2022, after replacing Wang Yi who was promoted director of China’s Communist Party Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission.
He was also appointed to one of the most influential positions in China—as state councilor—last March 2023.
Qin’s visit comes on the heels of Beijing’s professed anxiety over reinvigorated Philippine-US defense relations, with Manila allowing US access to Philippine sites near Taiwan and West Philippine Sea, tagged as areas for exercises under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
A career diplomat, Qin was the Chinese Ambassador to the US at a very tumultuous time of deteriorating bilateral relations between Beijing and Washington DC over trade, Taiwan’s independence and human rights.
During his Manila visit, Qin will meet his counterpart, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.
This will be their first in-person meeting.
The DFA said the ministers will “exchange views on the outcomes of the consultations” between their two ministries on the South China Sea dispute and on overall bilateral relations last March.
It will also be a chance for them to “discuss ways forward” on how to implement the agreements reached during the meeting of Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping last January 4, 2023.
“In particular, both sides will discuss increasing and strengthening cooperation in the fields of agriculture, trade, energy, infrastructure, and people-to-people relations, among others,” the DFA said.
They will also discuss regional security issues of mutual concern.