CHINA and the Philippines have reaffirmed their ties, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr stressing how the relationship between the two countries will benefit both Chinese and Filipinos.
Marcos made this statement after meeting China’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, at the Malacanang Palace on Wednesday.
“We look forward to further strengthening the relationship between China and the Philippines for the benefit of both our peoples,” Marcos wrote on his official Facebook account.
Huang said he was greatly honoured to pay a courtesy call on Marcos and that they exchanged views on further strengthening the bilateral relationship.
Huang’s exchange with Marcos reaffirmed the “important, high-level partnership between the Philippines and China”, said Wilson Lee Flores, a newspaper columnist in Manila and honorary chairman of the Anvil Business Club.
He said tension rose in the region following the visit to Taiwan by the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, early this month and then a visit by a US congressional delegation.
Analysts have said the Philippine government has consistently upheld the universally, globally accepted and United Nations-recognised one-China principle.
Huang’s meeting with Marcos has promoted the “stability and continuity of strong diplomatic ties and mutual respect between our two countries, including the one-China principle”, Flores said. — China Daily/ANN
