BEIJING — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not expected to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit to be held in Shenzhen, Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz said on Thursday.
Marcos is expected to arrive days after hosting world leaders at the Asean Summit in Manila.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Manila Times at the Philippine Embassy here in Beijing, FlorCruz said Marcos aims to meet with other heads of states of the member economies of APEC and advance the economic interests of the Philippines.
APEC is composed of 21 member economies including China, the United States, Japan, Australia and Russia.
With APEC being an “important platform for multilateral engagements,” Marcos aims to discuss economic, political and geopolitical issues with member states.
FlorCruz said that he expects bilateral meetings with other member states and multilateral formal meetings when the summit begins on Nov. 18.
“The president also hopes to meet with a group of Chinese business executives who may have already landed in the Philippines or who are very interested, very keen to land businesses in the Philippines,” FlorCruz added.
Stable and predictable
FlorCruz also said that the phone call between Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is part of ongoing efforts to keep the channels between Manila and Beijing open.
Lazaro said she had a “frank and constructive” call with her counterpart and that both sides emphasized the need for “continued diplomatic dialogue and the proper management of differences anchored on mutual respect.”
Wang, for his part, urged Manila to “exercise prudence in its words and actions on maritime issues,” and adhere to the One-China policy.
FlorCruz said that the call followed the one-on-one interaction between Lazaro and Wang at the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in July.
FlorCruz said he wants to keep the relations between Manila and Beijing at a “stable and predictable” level, describing it as a “new equilibrium” that is not subject to unforeseen or very uncomfortable jerks.
‘Productive and multifaceted’
He reiterated that the Philippines maintains its position on its maritime claims in the West Philippine Sea anchored on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 arbitral ruling.
“We follow President Marcos’ directive, which is what is ours, is ours, and we are not giving up an inch of our territory. We stand by strongly, firmly, on our principled position,” FlorCruz said.
However, FlorCruz noted that Marcos directed him to have a “productive and multifaceted relations” with China, as maritime issues are not the sum total of the relationship.
“We want to maintain that relationship. So when we say new equilibrium, we’re pursuing both. It’s not either or, but we seek multidimensional and multifaceted relations. Multifaceted because while we have differences on maritime issues, we want to push on investment and trade. We want to push people-to-people relations, including tourism,” FlorCruz said.
Such moves include the introduction of a 14-day visa-free privilege to Chinese citizens, which he said led to a 60-percent increase in tourist arrivals in the country, benefiting the tourism industry.
Trade successes
He also cited the recent trade successes of Philippine products in the China-Asean Expo in September in Nanning, where $60 million in record sales were generated, and the recently-concluded China International Import Expo in Shanghai, where RMB 60 million in sales were generated as well.
“That’s why we always participate in these major trade fairs, investment fairs in China because it’s our role here in the embassy to be matchmakers, to be the bridge between our companies, our corporations, our business people and their Chinese counterparts,” FlorCruz said.
He said that Philippine durian is a “big hit” among Chinese consumers, as are other tropical fruits such as mangoes and pineapples.
FlorCruz said he aims to tap Filipinos for training in information technology in China, as it has become a world leader in the sector, including artificial intelligence, big data and even electric vehicles.
FlorCruz, a former journalist who lived and studied in the country for over 50 years, said he wants Filipinos to see China “with their own eyes” instead of hearing from other people.
“I find that many Filipinos who have visited China recently are very surprised, very impressed by what they see. But again, we don’t want to romanticize China’s image. What we really want is a realistic view of China and see how much progress it has made, what it can offer to the Philippines in terms of investment, trade [and] exchanges on the cultural, educational level,” FlorCruz said.
um, we’re pursuing both. It’s not either or, but we seek a multidimensional and multifaceted relations Multifaceted because while we have differences of maritime issues, we want to push on investment and trade. We want to push people-to-people relations, including tourism,” FlorCruz said.