Philippine rainbow connection with China

After a whirlwind of official activities squeezed into the past 24 hours, Chinese President Xi Jinping wraps up today his brief state visit here in Manila. Not even an anti-China protest rally could dampen the successful turnout of the state visit here in our country by President Xi whose stature as a global leader could not be diminished by such sideshow.

It was rather unfortunate though that Vice President Leni Robredo was not given any role at all in any of the official activities of President Xi while in Manila. While she is no longer a Cabinet member, the Vice President should have at least been accorded the ceremonial role to welcome our state visitor.

Former president Fidel Ramos and his erstwhile vice president Joseph Estrada may not have belonged to the same political party but the latter was accorded such ceremonial role. The same tradition was followed by Estrada when he got elected and gave such ceremonial role to then vice president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo although they did not belong to the same party. Mrs. Arroyo followed the same protocol and so did P-Noy with his then vice president Jejomar Binay.

President Xi was welcomed at the airport by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and other Cabinet and top government officials who included Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Ed Monreal. Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez acted as the Cabinet-in-attendance for the visiting Chinese leader. Vice President Robredo was likewise not invited to the state banquet for President Xi at Malacañang.

Curiously though, presidential daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte stood along with his father at the welcome rites held at the Malacañang grounds. President Xi came here without his wife. Protocol-wise, it should have been a one-to-one correspondence. But the President’s protocol is the protocol, so to speak.

Actually, the Chinese leader came here in a reciprocal state visit to the state visit of President Rodrigo Duterte who first went to Beijing in Oct. 2016. This was a few months after President Duterte assumed office at Malacañang Palace. President Duterte’s state visit to Beijing was the icebreaker that finally thawed the icy relations of the Philippines with China that got into such frozen state during the last years in office of former president Benigno “Noy” Aquino III.

It was the natural consequence of our country’s getting the favorable ruling of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on our conflicting territorial maritime claims with China over the disputed South China Sea, which we call as the West Philippine Sea. The Hague ruling was handed down unfortunately after Aquino’s term and it was President Duterte who reaped what his immediate predecessor sowed.

The PCA decision of course, hurt China before the international community. It did not stop China though from continuing its reclamation activities over the disputed islets, reefs, shoals, corals and rocks in what it has claimed as within its “nine-dash-line” in the South China Sea.

 Taking a more conciliatory tack, President Duterte decided not to press for now the PCA ruling in favor of the Philippines. The policy direction on the matter of President Duterte drew a lot of flaks, not to mention from former Aquino administration officials but also from groups pushing for immediate implementation of the PCA ruling.

Their vehement objections to the present administration’s tack on the South China Sea have not changed the course of policy direction as set forth by President Duterte. As bluntly pointed out by President Duterte, the Philippines could not possibly engage in a full-blown war and perhaps get its traditional allies like the United States, to assert the PCA ruling against China.

Rather than dwell on what divides the two nations over the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea, President Duterte has since then engaged his counterpart Chinese leader to more sober talks on the matters of mutual interests and benefits as close neighbors in this part of the world. Discussed quietly at the highest levels of governments, the Philippines and China have since then moved forward the rekindled relations to greater heights. 

President Duterte, however, has declared in the past he still has the China card up on his sleeve.

Up till now, President Xi and President Duterte have met for five times on both bilateral and multilateral occasions. As aptly described by ambassador Zhao Jianhua, the two leaders are “setting a course for win-win and sound growth of China-Philippines relations.”

Only last year, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council of China paid official visit to the Philippines. Amb. Zhao cited the latest visit of President Xi is also the first of its kind by the Chinese Head of State since 2005.

In his message that came out at The STAR last Monday on the eve of his arrival in Manila, President Xi wrote “Open up a New Future Together for China-Philippines.” He talked about his intentions and plans to further build upon the gains of rekindled friendship and ties of Philippines-China relations.

As translated, President Xi wrote: “Our relations have now seen a rainbow after the rain.”

This reminded of the same message of Premier Li when he embarked on an official visit in Manila after attending the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit and Related Summits chaired by the Philippines in November last year. Premier Li’s message, also published at The STAR on Nov. 11, 2017, talked about “Opening a new chapter of China-Philippines relations with renewed friendship and deepened cooperation.”

In that message, Premier Li cited: “The China-Philippines relationship is now seeing a rainbow after the storm and showing a good momentum across the board.” 

A number of government-to-government as well as private sector agreements were signed in the presence of Presidents Duterte and Xi at Malacañang yesterday. Details of these agreements were not available yet as of this writing.

So we shall soon see how the “rainbow after the rain” will color the Philippine horizon.