(BusinessWorld) THE PHILIPPINES should keep its strong ties with China because the economic giant would play a key role in global affairs for decades to come, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said on Monday night.
The Southeast Asian nation could “count on China as a friend and partner for peace and development,” he said in a virtual speech during the Communist Party of China (CPC) and World Political Parties Summit.
Mr. Duterte heads the ruling PDP-Laban, which signed a cooperation deal with Chinese communist party in 2017.
“To further build mutual trust and confidence, we must sustain our constructive dialogue and peaceful engagement,” he said. “This is crucial as the bilateral relations between our two countries expand and deepen.”
The President, who led a foreign policy pivot to China away from western super powers such as the US, said the CPC had overseen China’s “extraordinary rise to prosperity, lifting over 800 million Chinese out of extreme poverty and driving global growth in the process.”
The Philippines got P1.2 trillion in investment and loan pledges from China to boost big-ticket infrastructure projects. Critics have said few of these promises materialized.
As China’s sole political party celebrated its 100th anniversary, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to keep China’s influence on the global stage, saying it would continue to champion cooperation over confrontation and will “open up rather than closing our doors.”.. Read More
