Working together and forging a common future

(Speech delivered on June 3, 2010 at the luncheon membershipmeeting of the Rotary Club of Manila at Turf Room, Manila Polo Club)

President Benjamin Santos, Friends of the Rotary Club, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon!

Thank you, Manny, for your kind words about me.

Time really flies. Just more than one year ago, also at Manila Polo Club, I had the good fortune to be entertained by your warm hospitality. Now I am doubly indebted to you.

What a pleasure to be back here again and talk to you like chatting among best friends. One year ago, I was quite a stranger here, a newcomer in the diplomatic circle of Manila. One year later, I’ve seen a lot, heard a lot and learned a lot. Many things happened and many things changed. But I am so sure that one thing always remains unchanged. That is the commitment shared by all RCM members in advancing fruitful and mutually beneficial China-Philippines relationship with strength and depth. That’s why we all celebrate 9 June each year not only as the anniversary of China-Philippines diplomatic relations, but also the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Day.  

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It has been well said that kinship between countries is not reckoned according to size or age, but by the intangible things that peoples and countries share with each other. We know this well in the bonds of friendship that have grown between our two countries in the course of more than one thousand years. 

Historians tell us as early as the 10th century, during the Song Dynasty in China, traders sold Philippine products to southwestern China through the port of Guangzhou, just as they brought Chinese goods back to the Philippines. More than 500 hundred years ago, the Sultan of Sulu visited China, carrying with him the good will of the Philippine people and leaving behind moving stories of China-Philippines amity. Over 100 years ago, many Chinese in coastal areas sailed across the sea to the Philippines, and lived in harmony with the local people and forged fraternal affinity. It is fully in this spirit of close affinity that today we mutually strive to expand our cooperation.

By the accidents of history, China-Philippines relations were disrupted for a time. The disruption did not end until June 1975, when Chairman Mao greeted the visiting Philippine President Marcos by saying, “It takes two hands to clap and we are one family.” For his part, President Marcos said, “The wise men say that a long, long time ago, land bridges connected our two countries. But they were flooded by the waters and washed away. I have journeyed to China on a mission for 42 million Filipinos to assure ourselves that the bridges from the Philippines to China will not again be washed away.”

In such words laced with allusion and metaphor and in an atmosphere full of warmth and cordiality, diplomatic relations were formally established between our two countries. The ship of China-Philippines relations, moored for so long, again set sail. In the short span of 35 years, with joint efforts of several generations of Chinese leadership, five Philippine presidents and our two peoples, the ship has forged ahead, come rain or shine, braved wind and waves and kept steering towards richness and maturity.   

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Both the Chinese and the Philippine peoples are happy to see mutual understanding at all levels in the past 35 years gain breadth and depth never seen before. Our top leaders have stayed in regular contacts through visits, meetings and letters. Our government officials have maintained constructive and productive consultations with each other. Such communications have played an irreplaceable role in promoting our bilateral relations. In 2005, President Hu Jintao and President Arroyo decided to build on a China-Philippines relationship based on strategic cooperation for peace and development aiming to raise our friendly ties and cooperation to a new high. In 2009, the Joint Action Plan for Strategic Cooperation was signed by the two Governments to press ahead with our efforts to implement in real earnest the consensus reached by our leaders.

The common interests linking our two countries have widened and our mutually-beneficial cooperation has expanded and deepened. It’s fair to say that China-Philippines relationship today has enjoyed stronger domestic support and assumed greater regional significance. It has become invaluable asset for both peoples. Take our business ties as an example, our trade volume has surged from $72 million in the early days of diplomatic relations to more than $20 billion in 2009, an increase of about 300 times. Our trade volume in the first quarter of 2010 registered a quarter-on-quarter increase of 51.6%, hitting $6 billion with a surplus of almost $1 billion in favor of the Philippines.