BBM set to visit mainland China

PRESIDENT Ferdinand ‘Bongbong/BBM’ Romualdez Marcos Jr., has agreed to an invitation by the Chinese government for an official (state) visit to the mainland.

Although no specific date has been agreed yet, the visit is one of the key points he discussed with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor HE Wang Yi, during the latter’s formal courtesy call last July 6, 2022, where they discussed “agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and our commitment to maintaining the strong relationship between our peoples in the coming years,” the President later said in his official Twitter account.

A day before Wang’s courtesy call, on July 5, 2022, Pres. Marcos, in a press briefing, also said he is amenable to having “military exchanges” in China, a major shift from the country’s long dependence on the United States in the area of defense and national security.

“Let’s have cultural exchanges, educational exchanges, even the military, if that will be useful. Of course, the GTG (government-to-government) [partnership] has always been there, the private sector, and joint ventures have also been there.

“But I think that the more that we do, the more it will help resolve the issue,” Marcos said, referring to the country’s conflicting claims with China at the South China Sea.

Marcos’ statement on further increasing contacts with China in any way possible is a reiteration of the message he made during the ‘2nd Award for the Promotion of Philippines – China Understanding’ (APPCU) in Makati City last June 10, 2022.

In that gathering, BBM said he believes that people to people engagement is another “direction that we can explore to strengthen the foundation of the two countries’ partnership and friendship.”

At his inauguration last June 30, 2022, no less than Vice President Wang Qishan headed the Chinese delegation, to send the clear message that China highly-valued its relationship with the Philippines. This contrast to the delegation sent by the United States headed by Douglas Emhoff, the husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris and, retired Admiral James “Sandy” A. Winnefeld, Jr., former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both are not even officials of the US government.

 

In the same event, he also described China as the Philippines’ closest neighbor and “strongest partner” (see also Pinoy Exposé, June 13, 2022).  

Wang is the second highest Chinese official to pay a courtesy call to PBBM.

At his inauguration last June 30, 2022, no less than Vice President Wang Qishan headed the Chinese delegation, to send the clear message that China highly-valued its relationship with the Philippines.

This contrast to the delegation sent by the United States headed by Douglas Emhoff, the husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris and, retired Admiral James “Sandy” A. Winnefeld, Jr., former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both are not even officials of the US government.

Emerging from his meeting earlier with Wang, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo, said Beijing conveyed to him China’s commitment to work with the Marcos administration “in all areas of comprehensive, strategic partnership,” which could start “a new golden era” of bilateral ties between China and the Philippines.

It can be recalled that it was PBBM’s parents, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his mother, First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, who opened the way for the establishment of Philippines – China diplomatic relations in 1975.

A year before this, the First Lady laid the groundwork of penetrating the China’s ‘Bamboo Curtain’ and normalizing the Philippines’ relationship with China by visiting the mainland and conferring with its top leadership headed by Chairman Mao Zedong and Prime Minister Zou Enlai.

As a result of that visit, the Chinese Communist Party promptly stop giving further material and other support to the insurgency being waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Aside from China, PBBM also received an invitation from the United States and the European Union for a state visit, similar to the offer received by his predecessor, President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte, however, never bothered to visit the US mainland and would also, from time to time, blast the United States for its interference in the country’s domestic affairs, especially the government’s war on drugs and the massacre of Filipinos during the US invasion of the Philippines at the turn of the last century.

Duterte also made the return of the ‘Balangiga Bells’ as a “condition” for his visit to the United States but even after it was formally returned to the Philippines on December 15, 2018, Duterte never bothered to take up the US offer for an official visit.

The 3 Balangiga Bells were carried away as ‘war trophies’ by US soldiers after massacring the people of Balangiga, Eastern Samar, during the Philippines’ War of Independence against US Imperialism in 1901.