It started with a kiss: just like old times for Beijing relations?
Mao Zedong’s gesture to Imelda Marcos still marks high point of ties between two nations
To many Chinese, probably one of the best known photos of Mao Zedong is one where the ailing leader kisses the hand of the first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos.
It was shot in September 1974, at the height of the Cultural Revolution and months before late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ official trip to China marked the normalisation of bilateral relations.
As the president’s special envoy, Imelda Marcos was tasked with making preparations for her husband’s June 1975 state visit.
The kiss caused a sensation in China. Marcos later also recalled it as one of her proudest moments, as Mao rarely met any foreign dignitaries in his later years.
“He took my hand and kissed it … And that was the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Because the Philippines was America junior … do you see how serious that was?” she told Agence France-Presse in 2009.
She is also reported to have been fondly remembered by Mao and his wife Jiang Qing for giving them a case of mangoes, the Philippine national fruit that was rarely seen in China back then.
The 1974 trip helped to consolidate the Marcos family’s deep ties with Beijing that have somehow stood the test of time.
So much so that many believe the victory of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr – the deposed dictator’s son – in Monday’s Philippine election was also a win for China.
Beijing welcomed the return of the Marcos family to the Philippines’ top office 36 years after a “People Power” revolt ousted his father and sent him into exile for stealing billions of US dollars from the national purse and mass human rights abuses.
The two nations, “facing each other across the waters, enjoy a long-standing traditional friendship”, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said, adding that China remained committed to good-neighbourliness” under the incoming president.
Jay Batongbacal, a professor in the College of Law at the University of the Philippines, said Chinese officials, including Beijing’s top envoy to Manila, had highlighted China’s friendship with the Marcos family.
They also credited Marcos Jnr’s father with Manila’s decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 1975, he noted. That year, Marcos Jnr had accompanied his parents on their Beijing trip, during which Mao and then premier Zhou Enlai offered their support for the martial law Marcos Snr had imposed since 1972.
In exchange for Manila’s recognition that Taiwan was a part of China, the Chinese leaders promised Beijing would not intervene in the internal affairs of the Southeast Asian nation.
Last year, the Chinese embassy in Manila gave Imelda Marcos an award, recognising her contribution to “fostering and promoting understanding” between the two countries.
Batongbacal said China might have “probably quite a lot” of influence on the president-elect, considering Marcos Jnr’s statements both before and during his campaign. “China is likely to cultivate its relations with the family, and by extension the Philippines, even more,” he said.
According to Batongbacal, Marcos would probably continue his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s policies towards China, and possibly take further steps to bring the two nations closer. “It is possible he will be even more willing to accommodate China than Duterte himself with respect to the South China Sea,” he said.
Yun Sun, a senior fellow at the Stimson Centre, also believes Marcos Jnr would be easier for Beijing to deal with compared to his opponent Leni Robredo, who is more critical of China.
“Based on what Marcos has said, he appears committed to continuing the path his predecessor has picked, which is closer ties with Beijing. But on the other hand, he has also supported the alliance with the US,” Sun said.
Marcos has defended his father’s legacy and steadfastly refuses to apologise for or even acknowledge the atrocities and plunder under his authoritarian watch.