{"id":14931,"date":"2022-01-21T14:45:14","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T13:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/?p=14931"},"modified":"2022-01-21T14:45:14","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T13:45:14","slug":"fu-ying-china-hopes-next-president-keeps-phl-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/fu-ying-china-hopes-next-president-keeps-phl-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Fu Ying: China hopes next president keeps PHL \u2018independent\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
BY\u00a0<\/span>MALOU TALOSIG-BARTOLOME –\u00a0<\/span>JANUARY 19, 2022<\/div>\n
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In File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and President Duterte wave to the media following a welcome ceremony at Malaca\u00f1ang Palace on November 20, in Manila.\u00a0Image credits:\u00a0AP\/Bullit Marquez<\/a><\/div>\n
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CHINA hopes the next Philippine president will continue President Duterte\u2019s\u00a0\u201cindependent foreign policy,\u201d a senior ranking Chinese politician and retired diplomat\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

Madame Fu Ying, chairperson of the influential foreign affairs committee of the\u00a0Chinese parliament, said China, the Philippines and the region benefited from\u00a0Duterte\u2019s pivot towards China when he assumed presidency in 2016.<\/p>\n

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\u201c[Duterte\u2019s] independent foreign\u00a0policy has won him respect from countries in the\u00a0region, including from China,\u00a0and he is willing to face the difficult issues with\u00a0China, and find proper\u00a0solutions, and he was able to reach consensus with the\u00a0Chinese leaders, and\u00a0allowing the relationship to come out of a difficult time and\u00a0gain vitality,\u201d Fu Ying said during the recent virtual conference billed\u00a0as the 5th Manila Forum\u00a0for Philippine-China Relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not only good for the two countries, two peoples, but also good for the\u00a0region.\u00a0So I hope that in the future, whoever is\u00a0succeeding him will be able to\u00a0wisely,\u00a0courageously, and responsibly carry out Philippine independent foreign\u00a0policy,\u201d Fu\u00a0Ying added.<\/p>\n

Fu Ying had served as the Chinese Ambassador to Manila for two years from\u00a01998 to 2000, at the time when relations between Manila and Beijing were\u00a0strained as a result of China\u2019s increased occupation of the Panganiban Reef\u00a0(international name: Mischief Reef) in the West Philippine Sea. She was also\u00a0appointed as the Chinese ambassador to Australia and the United Kingdom, before being\u00a0promoted as vice foreign minister of China. Now, she chairs the\u00a0foreign affairs committee of the National People\u2019s Congress, and US think tanks\u00a0have described her as a \u201csenior figure in\u00a0a growing number of US-China interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n

China\u2019s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also noted that Duterte\u2019s pivot to China was a \u201cstrategic decision to improve the\u00a0relations\u201d between Manila and Beijing.<\/p>\n

\u201cRainbows appeared after the rainstorms,\u201d Wang Yi said in a recorded speech played during the virtual forum.<\/p>\n

Fu Ying said she has been watching the recent spat between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea, referring to reports of Chinese Coast Guard firing water cannon on a Philippine boat that transported food to Filipino soldiers stationed at Ayungin Shoal (international name: Second Thomas Shoal) last November. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. protested the incident in\u00a0\u201cstrongest terms\u201d to a point of mentioning the treaty alliance the Philippines has with the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been watching the recent occasional\u00a0hyping up of the disputes caused by some incidents\u00a0related to some shoals in\u00a0China\u2019s Nansha Islands [also known\u00a0as the Spratly Islands] and feel a bit concerned, hoping the two sides would\u00a0properly\u00a0handle it and avoid rolling back the mutual trust that both sides have\u00a0worked so hard to build in the past years,\u201d Fu Ying said.<\/p>\n

Fu Ying suggested that both sides \u201cstay firmly on the positive side\u201d of the relationship and put the Spratly Islands dispute \u201cat an\u00a0appropriate place and properly handled through dialogues.\u201d The Chinese foreign minister went further, saying that both sides should prevent the Spratly island issue from affecting or\u00a0\u201ctaking hostage\u201d the overall bilateral relationship.<\/p>\n

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She warned that the West Philippine Sea dispute will be used as an election issue in the Philippines in the upcoming \u00a0presidential elections in May this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am aware that the election season is\u00a0unfolding in Manila. The past experience shows that during\u00a0such time, some\u00a0people tend to bring up the disputes with China or try to stand tough against\u00a0China which appear to be \u2018politically correct.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSome Filipino scholars are expressing concerns\u00a0of such tendency, stating that the disputes should\u00a0not become a defining issue\u00a0for our relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree with such views and hope those who\u00a0have foresight and stand for China-Philippines\u00a0friendship can speak up and\u00a0provide positive influence and we should work together to keep our\u00a0relations on\u00a0the right track,\u201d Fu Ying said.<\/p>\n

Wang Yi reassured the Philippines that \u201cChina will\u00a0absolutely not use its strength to bully smaller countries, and we\u00a0never believe\u00a0in a winner-takes-all approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to work with the Philippines to find\u00a0ways to properly manage and\u00a0resolve the issue in the spirit of goodwill and\u00a0pragmatism. We need to come up with the resolve as soon as possible to\u00a0advance\u00a0joint development without prejudice to either side\u2019s rights and claims, so that we can turn the South China Sea\u00a0issue from\u00a0a challenge into an opportunity and a positive factor conducive to the\u00a0development of the Philippines and the\u00a0friendship between our two peoples,\u201d Wang Yi added.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on the Business Mirror<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY\u00a0MALOU TALOSIG-BARTOLOME –\u00a0JANUARY 19, 2022 In File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and President Duterte wave to the media following a welcome ceremony at Malaca\u00f1ang Palace on November 20,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[153],"class_list":["post-14931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-room","tag-153"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}