ON THE eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Manila, Malacañang on Monday, November 19, heaped praise on the Chinese leader's "continued efforts" to sustain peace and stability in the contested South China Sea amid overlapping claims with the Philippines and other sea claimants.
"We laud President Xi for China’s continued efforts to promote peace and stability in our region, through dialogues and consultations in handling the South China Sea issue, as we share his aspiration to bring our nations’ relationship to a higher level of collaboration," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
Panelo issued the statement a day before Xi embarks on a two-day state visit in the Philippines for the first time beginning Tuesday, November 20.
Hu Jintao was the last Chinese President to make a state visit in the Philippines in 2005.
Xi came to the Philippines in 2015 for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but he only had an awkward encounter with then President Benigno Aquino III, who initiated the filing of an arbitration case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitrations in the Hague, Netherlands.
The Philippines on July 12, 2016 won the petition it lodged against China's sweeping claims to the South China Sea. Duterte, however, repeatedly refused to flaunt the country's historic win as he intends to maintain closer ties with Beijing.
Panelo said Xi's impending visit to the Philippines is "a turning point" in both histories of Manila and Beijing.
"The story of the Philippines’ relationship with China dates back in the pre-Spanish times. Since then, Filipinos and Chinese always shared a special partnership as traders and entrepreneurs," the Palace official said.
"We consider our country’s long-lasting friendship with China and the presence of Chinese and Chinese-Filipinos in the country as integral parts of our own growth and progress," he added.
Panelo likewise said the Chinese leader’s visit to the Philippines marks an opportunity "to further strengthen and sustain our bilateral relations with the foreign country, which surged forward under the visionary leadership of President Duterte."
He added that the friendly relationship between the Philippines and China "solves international disputes and would even make both countries stronger allies against threats to security, including terrorism, violent extremism, criminality, and the drug menace."
He also took note that China is now considered "a top trading partner of the Philippines, a leading export market for the Philippines, and one of the largest tourist origins to the Philippines."
"The Philippines and China’s shared hopes for their citizens continue to pave the way for closer bonds between the two nations," Panelo said.
"Owing to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s cautious, pragmatic and diplomatic yet independent foreign policy, we anticipate more opportunities to forge better cooperation and friendship with China," he added. (SunStar Philippines)