‘Blue sky days’ give way to winter smog in otherwise glitzy Beijing

BEIJING, China – The inauguration of the thrice-weekly Philippine Airlines flight, directly from Manila to Beijing and back, has put the Philippines back on the map here – but barely. Anyway, PAL’s Chairman Lucio Tan and PAL President Jim Bautista should take a bow. Last Friday’s inauguration dinner in the Beijing Hotel ballroom, a banquet hall unchanged since it was graced in the old days by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and recently President Hu Jintao, was a gala affair.

One of the guests of honor was our friend, former Ambassador to Manila Wu Hongbo who’s now Director General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position which carries the rank of divisional Chief of Staff – a well-deserved promotion indeed. Our outgoing Ambassador to Beijing, Willy C. Gaa, who’s just left for a meeting in Washington D.C., delivered a fine address, stating it is "a very proud moment to witness the inauguration of non-stop flights between Manila and Beijing."

Willy pointed out that PAL now links the Philippines to five Chinese cities – and now connects Manila to China which has emerged as the world’s "third largest trading nation and the second largest recipient of foreign direct investments."

Gaa said that PAL’s pioneering move will enable us to tap into one of the fastest growing sources of tourists. "Over the past 16 years," he noted, "we have seen the rise of disposable incomes from the Chinese, enabling an increase number to travel abroad." Last year, some 29 million Chinese travelled overseas and this figure is projected to reach 50 million by the year 2010, and as high as 100 to 115 million by 2020, "making China the biggest source of outbound tourists in the world."

Willy revealed that in the first half of 2005, China became our third largest trading partner. From January to September this year, 73,173 Chinese tourists went to the Philippines, up 146.7 percent from last year. Well, that was enough of a graceful swan song for Ambassador Gaa. In truth, he got the bonus of staying longer in Beijing than he expected, for his intended successor, former Vice-President Teofisto "Tito" Guingona not only quit as nominated Ambassador even before he got here, but is now demanding President GMA’s ouster – by a so-called "People’s Court."

Susmariosep! Loyalty and affiliation in old RP is like a revolving door. First Tito campaigned for FPJ against GMA, then he accepted the job of Ambassador from GMA but not for long. Only a few weeks later, he was insisting that GMA get out. Makes your head spin, doesn’t it? When we were in Ateneo together, Guingona played "Hamlet," and in that Shakespeare tragedy, his immortal line was, "to be – or not to be." Alas, he has still not answered that question.

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Ambassador Gaa’s departure paves the way for the new Ambassador, Sonia Catumber Brady, to take over in January. Don’t be confused by her family name – it’s her husband’s. Sonia faces the Commission on Appointments today but I don’t see any hitch in her confirmation. Beijing is, if you think about it, a romantic "return" to the past for Sonia. It’s in the Chinese capital that she met her husband, a New Zealand diplomat, many years ago.

As for Willy, he’s slated to "return" to Los Angeles, California, too – as Consul General. When I was there a few months ago to address a Centennial Rotary Club meeting in Cerritos, the local Pinoys and Pinays were happy that Gaa "might" be coming back to them. He was very helpful, hardworking and popular over there. If you ask me, even if it’s just a remote chance of coming true, Willy Gaa would make a good Ambassador to Washington D.C. (There’s somebody named Cesar gunning for it, backed by Triple R, I’m informed).

The other night, I also met the incoming Ambassador of China to the Philippines, the Hon. Li Jinjun, a youthful-looking 51. Ambassador Li was Ambassador to Myanmar (Burma), but he said he’s arriving in Manila next Sunday (Nov. 20) to await full "agreement" and an opportunity to present his credentials to La Presidenta.

Humorously he wagged a finger at me and cheerfully exclaimed: "I hear you’ve been very friendly with Taiwan – so, please, I intend to be your very good friend, but no more Taiwan." I cheerfully replied that I might go to Taipei for another visit soon. He was very charming, indeed, and recalled that as a junior diplomat he had spent five years in Germany – and spoke German (like Russia’s Vladimir Putin). They must have been buddy-buddy in East Berlin, since I presume Ambassador Li had been posted in the former DDR or Communist Democratic Republic of Deutschland.

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Here in Beijing, a cold snap has taken over. The previous three days were sunny "blue sky" days as they call them here. Yesterday, a heavy smog descended on this metropolis of 11.6 million. It remains a sparkling city nonetheless.

The "heavy fighting" in Sulu didn’t merit any mention in any of the newspapers here. Beijing doesn’t think about our troubles back home. There are more than 150 embassies here, and 190 international news bureaus. The People’s Republic of China has relations with more than 120 world capitals.

The city itself teems with businessmen and tourists from all over the planet. More than 8,000 international companies are based in Beijing, represented by regional offices. There are more than 622 hotels, some 572 of them "star-rated", with a total of 103,000 rooms.

The Chinese hope that some day (it’s their overweening ambition), Beijing will once more be "The Center of the World," the Middle Kingdom, not just the middleman.

From what I can see, they’re on their way there. Why, even the toilets everywhere are sparkling and clean. Call me pedestrian, but for me, that’s the mark of true civilization.