BOTH the social and traditional media carried the story that former President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a one-on-one meeting in Beijing recently. The event was authenticated by photos accompanying the story, where Duterte was seen holding a shiny cane as he talked with Xi, an old friend of his.
What was discussed in the Digong-Jinping tíªte-í -tíªte was something we ordinary people would never know, but President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was apparently caught by surprise by that news and hurriedly showed the media that he was unperturbed. Marcos noted his predecessor’s “personal” trip to China and his plan to visit Xi, as “they are friends.”
Our Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) whose job is to know what is going on in the Philippine foreign relations and issues concerning international happenings admitted it did not know that Duterte was visiting China, let alone having a meeting with Xi. The leftist camps in Congress and the academe were in a frenzy airing various reactions.
President Marcos said he hoped Duterte raised the matter of Chinese vessels allegedly preventing the Philippine Coast Guard from delivering supplies to Filipino marines inside our exclusive economic zone.
‘Often, politicians seek refuge in the safety of motherhood statements.’
“So I hope that they talked about the issues that we see now — the shadowing and other matters. All of these things that we are seeing now, I hope they talked about it so that we will have progress because that is what we are really after — constant dialogue. That’s why I welcome any new lines of communication. If that is President PRRD then good. It’s not important to me who. I am sure he will be able to tell us what happened during their conversation and see how that affects us,” Marcos said.
There are several things wrong or at the very least, disconcerting, about the Chief Executive’s statement. First, it is he who should be in direct communication with the Chinese leader on matters concerning the South China Sea, our relations with China, and the never-ending regional tension that our conflicting claims has created. This is more in adherence to the policy that the President of the Philippines is the sole architect of the nation’s foreign policy.
Second, the direct line of communication between leaders of China and the Philippines was established during Marcos’ last official visit to Beijing, precisely to prevent lower-level officials of both country’s military and coast guard from committing mistakes that will have disastrous consequences.
Third, having additional lines of communication with Beijing on the South China Sea was proven to be catastrophic when then President Noynoy Aquino allowed then senator Antonio Trillanes IV to conduct back-channel talks on the Scarborough Shoal. Aquino’s errors in international diplomacy led to the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff between the two countries, and ultimately to the situation where access to the atoll was restricted by the People’s Republic of China.
For now, let the two sides be content with the report from the Chinese media that during the meeting, Xi told Duterte to continue to promote cooperation between the two countries.
“I hope you will continue to play an important role in the friendly cooperation (between China and the Philippines),” Xi was quoted as saying during the meeting at the Diaoyutai state guesthouse. Xi said that during Duterte’s tenure as president, he had “resolutely made the strategic choice to improve relations with China in an attitude of being responsible to the people and to history.”
In response, Duterte promised Xi that he would “continue contributing to promoting bilateral friendship.”
Often, politicians seek refuge in the safety of motherhood statements.
