Getting to know Premier Li Keqiang
And yet China has never been wanting in concrete gestures to prove its treatment of the Philippines as a small brother over whom to shelter, guard and protect. At the height of the disaster wrought by Typhoon Yolanda in Western Visayas in 2013, even before the Philippine President could decide whether or not to come to the aid of Ta c l o - ban and Samar, China speed i ly dispatched a high- end hospital ship to extend medical assistance to thousands of victims. In the ongoing anti- illegal drugs war by President Duterte , China alone has thought of donating an enormous drugs rehabilitation center, realizing that such a center is a fundamental requirement, based on China’s own Duterte drugs campaign is to succeed. In the Marawi crisis, heavy equipment for use in the rehabilitation of the war-ravaged Muslim city.
As announced in a press briefing by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 6, 2017, Premier Li Keqiang will hold talks with President Rodrigo Duterte and meet with Senate President Aquilino Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
“The leaders of the two countries will have an in-depth exchange of views on how to deepen China- Philippines relations in the new era, practical cooperation in various fields and regional and international issues of common concern. They will also attend the foundation stone laying ceremony and the launching ceremony of a project funded and built by China (the additional two bridges across Pasig River, the Intramuros-Binondo in Manila; and the Estrella-Pantaleon in Pasig). During the visit, the two sides intend to issue a joint consensus and achievements of the visit. It is expected to reach a series of important cooperation achieve - ture, economy, trade, investment, social and peopleto- people and cultural engagement,” went the Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.
Couched in diplomatic finesse, you don’t get much meat from the statement.
The statements made at the Kamuning Bakery forum proved to be more substantial. I had been envisioning a one-on-one with the Chinese Premier ( coming as he does fresh from the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China) whose a n s we r s to questions must - er changes there have been in China’s attitudes, predilections and dispositions in dealing with neighbors and with the world.
To former ISAFP Chief Victor Corpus, whose opening statement seemed to depict a noconflict scenario between the Philippines and China, I posed this question: “How does your narrative reconcile with a recent pronouncement by President Duterte to his troops that in a dialogue with China he will in within the ‘ four corners of the PCA ruling?”
Vic’s response was a veritable discourse. His view was actually a replication of the concerns raised at the George Siy- sponsored forum at the Tower Club: that the economic approach must be pursued in resolving the South to be a win-win one for everyone. General Corpus, himself once a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines, knows how a communist thinks and he was very assertive in propounding the Chinese position on the issue: that according to all known laws, owns that territory, and historical records abound that China has long exercised sovereignty over the South China Sea.
“China will never surrender that sovereignty,” Vic declared.
And yet, China, said Vic, is not even asserting such sovereignty. China wants complete cooperation with all nations – the United States included – in developing the region not only for China but for the whole international community as well.
Vic’s discourse contained insights and perceptions deserving of an independent elucidation in this column.
USEC Butch Valdez contributed his own enlightening view, citing the Treaty of Westphalia, which in 1648 ended all the religious wars in Europe: the Thirty Years’ War ( 1618- 1648) in the Holy Roman Empire; and the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic.
Only when nations stop warring against one another can true social development be achieved. Since the Westphalian Peace, Europe became a model for world economic development of nations.
The Treaty of Westphalia ushered in the new era of diplomacy whereby nations came to recognize the individual sovereignty of states, a balance of power was established in order for one nation not to engage in aggression against another. The Treaty of Westphalia is universally regarded as the precursor of today’s international law.
Will Premier Li draw from this Westphalian formula an approach to truly achieving China’s avowed aim, as expressed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on his participation in the Asean Summit and his
Note that there is here no mentioning at all a potential encounter by Premier Li with US President Trump, who reportedly was given a “State Visit Plus” status just days ago. If I get to get that most coveted one- on- one with Premier Li, all other questions being answerable here-and-now, the only question I will ask is: “Between China and the United States, what is cooking?”