A pre-SONA chat with our envoy to China.

IN VIEW of the forthcoming SONA (State of the Nation Address) of President Duterte on July 27, 2020, and as I am assigned to annotate the event during the One Media Network (former Global News Network) coverage for its one million subscribers, I thought it a perfect opportunity to interview and feature our nation’s man in Beijing, Ambassador Chito Sta. Romana (among a few others) on what he expects in the SONA speech.

China is the first country in the world to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic with positive economic growth figures of 3.2 percent in the 2nd quarter of the year.

It avoided an economic recession by bouncing back from a 6.8 percent contraction in the first quarter of this year, when it was facing the full brunt of the virus and set the tone for the correct response – lockdown and contact tracing.

Now in fact, the world is looking up to China for hope of an early global recovery from the economic Armageddon brought by COVID-19.

The virus is wiping out the services and travel industries across the world. But with China there is hope: Reuters reported last July 5, “China recovery hopes, upbeat data lift European shares” while the Global Times reported, “Green shoots in Chinese economy boost confidence for global recovery”.

I will digress at this point as I have to castigate the U.S. which. has been doing its darndest to spoil the world’s cooperative spirit and effort, led by China, to lift Humanity from this once-in-a-century existential threat called the Covid-19.

The U.S. is stirring up tension and turmoil by withdrawing from WHO, and in our region’s South China Sea sending two aircraft carriers – the old gunboat diplomacy  – in its futile campaign to stomp down the peaceful rise of China.

The U.S. is saber rattling while its own house is crumbling, and burning in many parts. It is really a reflection of the madness that has overtaken that nation.

While arm twisting its few allies to alienate China, and exercising technological apartheid against Chinese companies like Huawei, it then disrupts constructive regional problem-solving such as between China and Asean. The U.S. is doing nothing helpful to the world.

My talk over video conferencing with Amb. Sta. Romana erased all my anxieties about the disruption the U.S. is causing as he presented a very positive future for the Philippines while cooperation with China presents an ever win-win scenario for the country.

Amb. Chito affirmed the continuing rise in Philippine exports to China, but this time the new, rising export star is Philippine pineapples. “You find Philippines fruits all over Beijing,” he says.

The Philippines as well as Asean can rely on China to lead the way to economic recovery. It is the engine of growth again for the region and most likely for the rest of the world – as it was after the 2008 U.S. Financial Crisis; then US President George W. Bush sought China’s help to pump prime global demand with China’s internal stimulus packages in infrastructure expansion and purchase of U.S. debt.

China is pump priming its economy out of the economic slump, but unlike the U.S. stimulus that went into stock buying to save American corporations, China has spread its stimulus among consumers, boosting consumer confidence and to get industry back into production.

There is the famous speech of Premier Li Keqiang that praised the street entrepreneurs (vendors), highlighting the strategy of boosting the small entrepreneurs to revive the economy.

Our exports to China are still primarily household consumables, particularly food, so China’s strategy of boosting consumption is good for us.

We have to inform more our people about the real positive benefits Philippine engagement with China is producing for everybody.

There seems to be an improvement in the people’s attitude to China as a recent SWS survey shows, though one has to look closely to see the brighter interpretation.

The latest SWS report in these hard times is understandably negative over all.

The U.S. trust rating declined by a whopping 25 percentage points while China’s rating declined by only 9 percent.

Of course, the U.S. retains an overall positive rating, which is not unexpected; the dramatic decline of 25 percentage point is a telling blow to it, however.

There is still the negative perception of China created by hostile Philippines mainstream media, but overall, the perception is improving.

You can watch my interview with Amb. Chito Sta. Roman on One Media Forum (over GSat cable TV) or on YouTube on my Global Talk New Radio channel or Facebook page.