PH should keep its friends

economy. He lasted for several years but eventually lost influence to Deng whom I predicted in a report I authored would rise to become China’s paramount leader.

Great leaders

Vice Chairman Deng Xiaoping and King Norodom Sihanouk were among the great leaders I had the pleasure of meeting in Beijing.

I had the privilege of meeting Deng for the first time when, as chargé ad interim ( AI), I helped send off Vice Premier Li Xiannian for his official visit to Manila. Deng was there to impress upon us the importance of the visit. He was very nice, posing for a picture with me and my spouse and the embassy staff.

Li’s visit to the Philippines was a success. My wife and I had the honor of meeting him and his wife at the Great Hall of the People on multiple occasions at either the dinners (as chargé AI) or the return dinners ( as Ambassador Nicanor G. Reyes’ substitute) for the state visits. Li and his wife would break out into big smiles upon seeing my wife and me in our Filipiniana dress and (formal dress shirt) during the protocol to introduce the guests. Li became president of China from June 1983 to April 1988.

China was very active promoting itself as the leader of the developing countries and the socialist camp. Selected leaders from the Third World and the Second World who were not considered as being subservient to the Soviet Union were invited and lavishly feted.

Among the heads of state I shook hands with were leaders subsequently deposed like Khmer Rouge’s Pol Pot and Central African Emperor Jean Bedal Bokassa, as well as those who suffered a worse fate, such as being executed or assassinated, like Romania’s Nicolae Ceaucescu, Equatorial Guinea’s Francisco Macias Ngume and North Yemen’s Ibrahim al-Hamdi and his South Yemen counterpart.

I was privileged to meet Deng again when he received the tourism delegation headed by the Government Service Insurance System and Manila Hotel president Roman Cruz, Jr. I recall Cruz warning Deng of tourism pollution. The Philippines helped train the Chinese hotel industry. When Deng made a speech proposing air bridges between Manila and Beijing, which I reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Airlines became the first airline allowed by China to fly to both Beijing and Taipei.

As for the survivor and astute statesman that Sihanouk showed himself to be, I met him when he invited Ambassador Reyes and the entire Philippine Embassy staff ( all were accredited with diplomatic rank) to celebrate at his palace on the occasion of Cambodia’s New Year. Because of this invitation, I postponed my departure for my cross- posting to the Court of St. James. Sihanouk was in exile in Beijing as China’s guest when Vietnam installed the Heng Samrin regime.

China-Vietnam War

Before Cambodia’s New Year celebration took place, the Sino- Vietnamese war broke out. Deng had just visited the United States. I seemed to be lucky to be the chargé at such times of crisis. China had been hinting that Vietnam would be taught a lesson for invading Democratic Kampuchea, China’s ally. Vietnam was seen as the Soviet Union’s Cuba proxy in Asia.

I recall that elsewhere in the world, the Soviet Union seemed to be tilting the balance of global power in its favor, with Cuba’s intervention in Angola. The Soviet Union also had success at the Horn of Africa when Ethiopia joined the Soviet camp and thwarted Somalia’s invasion of the Ogaden region. Vietnam’s invasion which installed the Heng Samrin regime was, therefore, more intolerable.

My luck seemed to hold, because I recall that, while taking a stroll after dinner near our residential building, I encountered the spouse of a fellow diplomat. She looked at me in surprise, saying: “Jimmy, why are you not at your embassy?” Her husband was at their Liaison Office, reporting that the invasion had begun. I rushed to our embassy.

I recall that the invasion took place on the eve of the luncheon invitation hosted by the Malaysian ambassador in honor of Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping who had returned from a successful visit of Malaysia and Singapore. Foreign Minister Huang Hua was the official designated to represent Deng.

In preparation for this event, the Malaysian deputy chief of mission, Mr. Nik Mohamed, had met with me and our Thai counterpart to discuss current issues. At that time, only Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines had embassies in Peking. Mohamed requested me to avoid touching on the sensitive issue of Vietnam.

Voice radio

During the luncheon celebration, I could not avoid mentioning this important issue. It was not every day that I was at a small table with my wife, dining with the Chinese foreign minister. When I broached the subject, I saw the Malaysian and Thai ambassadors lean noticeably forward to listen. Huang Hua switched from English to Mandarin.

I used the occasion of the conflict to renew our embassy’s request for permission to have voice radio. At that time, only countries considered as China’s special friends were permitted the use of voice radio. The rest were allowed to send and receive messages by radio only through Morse code. I succeeded in getting the voice radio, where others could not.

Cambodian New Year

I enjoyed the Cambodian New Year’s celebration. Sihanouk was the artist and charismatic figure that he strived to be. He was seated alone, at a table separated from the guests, as if on a throne. His wife, the lovely Princess Monique, was across the room with other prominent guests.

Sihanouk gave the Philippines special attention. Ambassador Narciso G. Reyes had presented to him a tape of Filipino songs, including “sung by first lady Imelda Marcos. Sihanouk highlighted her rendition and played the entire tape during the interval. The party ended with a Filipino song. Sihanouk also seemed to have anticipated the importance of a future event.

In Part 3 of this series (“Because China refuses to abide by international law, PH should not gamble with its security,” April 4, 2020): The two rocks occupied by China, in addition to Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc), which are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), are Johnson (Mabini) and Mckennan (Chigua), not Hughes Reef.

Hughes Reef, which the Philippines considers as part of Chigua, but which the Arbitral Tribunal at the Hague identified as distinct from McKennan, is a low tide elevation within the Philippines’ EEZ, lying within 12 nautical miles of high tide features on McKennan and Sin Cowe.