Chinese defense minister due today

China’s Defense Minister Chi Haotian is to make a four-day goodwill visit to the Philippines starting today as the two countries seek to calm a diplomatic row sparked by a threat to expel the Chinese ambassador over a fishing dispute.

General Chi, No. 2 to President Jiang Zemin in the party’s central military commission, will seek to forge closer military ties and broaden bilateral relations, Chinese Embassy spokeswoman Ingrid Luo Wang said.

"He is not only a defense minister but a state leader and the visit is consistent with our policy of attaching great importance to the relationship with the Philippines," she told AFP.

Wang played down a threat Friday by Justice Secretary Hernando Perez to expel Chinese Ambassador Wang Chungqui for allegedly trying to intimidate him into the early release of 122 Chinese illegal fishermen.

"Our mainstream relationship is good and this belief is not only from our side but also the Philippine side," she explained.

The Department of Defense, in a statement, described Chi’s trip as a "goodwill visit" aimed at enhancing bilateral military relations.

Chi, who will be accompanied by six top Chinese Generals, will hold talks with President Arroyo and his Philippine counterpart Angelo Reyes.

China-Philippine relations took a knock on Friday when Justice Secretary Perez verbally clashed with ambassador Wang over the fate of the illegal fishermen languishing for months in a jail in the western island of Palawan.

Perez said he would ask the foreign department to have the ambassador declared persona non grata for trying to bully him, alleging that Wang pressed for the fishermen’s release by shouting at him and pounding his fist on Perez’s desk in fury.

In a bid to cool down tensions, Perez had said Monday, without elaborating, that Ambassador Wang was not to be blamed for the incident, an indication that he has softened his stance on the envoy.

But Perez maintained Tuesday the fishermen would have to face poaching charges in accordance with Philippine laws.

He said they will be arraigned at a local court in Palawan on Friday, the penultimate day of Chinese defense minister Chi’s visit.

"I will assert the right of the Philippines to punish those who violate our laws. I will always enforce it," Perez stressed.

In an apparent fence-building gesture, Ambassador Wang visited a senior Philippine foreign Ambassador Wang’s visit to the office of the foreign department official to explain what happened "is already an indication that he is trying to reach out to Secretary Perez," President Arroyo’s spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

The row was believed to have been discussed Monday by Foreign Secretary Blas Ople and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Copenhagen.

Victoriano Lecaros, spokesman for the foreign affairs department, said yesterday that the key issue was poaching by the 122 Chinese fishermen and violation of territorial waters and that the quarrel between the two officials was a "side issue."

"This is not the first time such violations have taken place," he told AFP.

Chi is the second high ranking Beijing official to visit Manila in two weeks. China’s No. 2 leader Li Peng visited here earlier this month. – AFP, Romero