14 March 2019 – Upon the invitation of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. will undertake an Official Visit to the People’s Republic of China from 18 to 21 March 2019, his first as the Philippines' top diplomat.

Secretary Locsin and his Chinese counterpart will hold a bilateral meeting to discuss the strengthening of the friendly relations between the Philippines and China in the spirit of mutual respect and through enhanced functional cooperation. Beyond mutual benefit across the broad scope of bilateral engagement, both Ministers will also discuss ways to advance the larger goal of bringing about peace and prosperity to the region. END

Statement

of

HON. TEODORO L. LOCSIN JR.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs

At the Joint Press Briefing with State Councilor and Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi

of the People's Republic of China

[Delivered in Beijing, China on 20 March 2019]

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.     

Allow me to extend my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to my counterpart, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for the warm hospitality he has graciously accorded me and the Philippine delegation. This warm welcome and the rapport that has grown between us over the course of our meetings made my first official visit to China as Secretary of Foreign Affairs all the more memorable.

In like fashion, the mutual respect and friendship between President Rodrigo Duterte and President Xi Jinping have laid the foundation of a revitalized relationship between the Philippines and China, which have always been friends and never enemies; resisting attempts by the Great Powers in the previous century to use our proximity against each other rather than for each other’s benefit. Early on, I am proud to say that I was part of an effort to bring our countries close together by a deeper mutual understanding, after being pulled apart by shortsighted commitments to others.

It is in this spirit that State Councilor Wang and I sat together in a productive meeting to take stock of what our two countries have accomplished so far; of differences we have yet to resolve; of the need to set them aside as we pursue more enriching and advantageous common goals; and of the future direction of a mutually beneficial relationship we are even more strongly committed to pursue. We are happy that our friendship has grown from strength to strength. This augurs well for the eventual resolution of differences in a fashion that does full justice to the honor of both our nations who have learned, bitterly and then proudly, that a nation’s most precious possession is not wealth nor power but honor. And that true national honor consists of the honorable way it holds itself up by the honorable way it treats others. Thus, you have our assurance that the Philippines will look out for your people in my country as I have seen China look out for our people in yours.

We continue to see ever greater advantages in our beneficial collaboration across a wide range of areas. At the same time, we acknowledge that a lot of work remains to be done to lessen irritants by seeing them for the small and illusory value they promise; and to raise the level and widen the scope of our productive engagement. There is so much to look forward to and accomplish that will be of much greater value to both of us than those differences can ever be to each one. The sands of an hour glass trickle down, marking time past and lost; time that could have been used in mutually beneficial cooperation. We are on the cusp of a new world that will be the envy of history because it will be a reversal of the usual history of national self-aggrandizement resulting only in international confrontation which characterized the Great Powers of the past—producing little of lasting value at so much greater regrettable cost.

Today, State Councilor Wang and I discussed how to bring our countries closer to together in a unity of purpose that advances only what each one seeks best for itself yet also for the other’s advantage. This was why Sun Yat Sen saw hope, foremost, not in the imitation of the strong, but in the innovativeness of talented and tireless people. He saw the wealth and power of the Great Powers that were feeding off China’s fallen state; he did not wish the same destiny for her. But rather of a new China in a new world the Chinese people would help to build; not another imperial state but a “Republic of the Chinese people” in harmony with everyone around them. All under a heaven reflecting peace and prosperity on earth.

I speak for my country which wants to see much to hope for, and nothing to fear from the rise of a new power. And along with it a new world where the ambition of one to rise higher and get richer is best advanced by helping others to rise and prosper in tandem with her. This was why I wrote that preamble to our Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative that no other country in history but the new China has aspired to rise higher, not by stepping on others, but by helping them rise alongside her. Each one’s genius and energy helping others in ways unique to itself yet advantageous to all. To put it in concrete terms, without the new China, there will be no prospect whatsoever for the developing world to grow into emerging economies. We would still be, as throughout the second half of the last century we were, at the mercy of Western markets which, on a whim, can turn us away—as they did throughout the post- and neo-colonial period. The emergence of a new China is creating a world where the lesser have a chance. And more than a chance: cooperation for mutual benefit instead of words. Traveling from the Far West to arrive in China it is as though I had left yesterday and arrived at tomorrow today.

I was amazed but never surprised at how much China has achieved. It was the work of the Chinese people whose tireless energy and inventiveness had the benefit of direction and focus through the Communist Party. There is no propulsion as strong as people power; but it demands the direction of a single hand, as Thomas Jefferson said. That hand is absent in Western democracy. That direction the Communist Party has supplied; no other institution anywhere in the world could do it. The Party’s repeated self-criticism and self-reformation, especially against the corrosive effect of corruption on legitimacy, have assured the Party’s continuing credibility, vibrancy, and relevance as China’s driving force. There is no substitute for it: it is democracy married to reason and animated by self-sacrifice.

We spoke of regional issues and international commitments; and the parts our countries play in the world by choice or necessity. Our two countries’ mutual respect is best shown by our shared refusal to take part in outside attempts to take advantage of each one’s internal problems; these are best and rightly left to national solutions. You have my word on that. There is multilateralism and there is foreign interference; the line between them is often blurred. Good intentions mask old imperialisms.

Through mutual respect and true sincerity, State Councilor Wang and I will continue to deepen Philippines-China relations, and do our share in securing a peaceful and prosperous future for the Filipino and Chinese peoples in the new better world that cries to be created. Most of the pieces are ready; the best hearts and minds on both sides are poised to put them in place. Let’s do it now.

Thank you. END