MANILA, Philippines — China yesterday urged the Philippines to preserve the friendship between the two countries but remove “interference” from their relations.
In his speech at the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian said the Philippines and China should put their differences in a proper place and seek peaceful solutions through friendly consultations “so that our overall relations will not be affected.”
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The two countries should properly handle differences to remove interference from China-Philippines relations, Huang said.
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China ignored a 2016 decision by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that declared its historical claim in the South China Sea to be without basis. Beijing insists on bilateral talks with the Philippines.
“China-Philippines relations are now at a new starting point,” he said.
He stressed that China is ready to work with the Philippines to implement the consensus reached by President Xi Jingping and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to follow through on the blueprint for cooperation to jointly usher in a new “golden era” in bilateral relations.
“We should preserve the friendship between China and the Philippines,” he added.
The ambassador highlighted Xi’s leadership of the Communist Party of China and China’s development.
“It was a decade of opening up at a higher level and sharing development opportunities with the world,” Huang said. “It was a decade where China shouldered the responsibilities of a major country.”
China, he said, has opened wider and deeper with its contribution to world economic growth at more than 30 percent.
Huang noted that the Belt and Road cooperation has yielded fruitful results with a large number of projects completed and actively participated in global governance and promoted “world peace and development.”
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