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Even with its construction activities in disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea, China continues to assure its neighbors that it is after a peaceful resolution of the maritime row.
Chinese officials and experts stressed this message to ABS-CBN and 10 other Filipino print and radio journalists invited to visit China for a series of meetings and discussions.
Fellows affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry say China stands to lose much if armed conflict erupts.Tang Qifang, an associate research fellow at China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) points out that China heavily depends on the South China Sea for trade.
“If there is long-lasting tension in South China Sea, who is the biggest victim? Not the Philippines, not the U.S., not Vietnam, but China. Because China depends on the shipment, the exports on South China Sea, especially the tankers. So, China, I think, is the one who doesn’t want any tension, any conflict on these waters,” Tang said.
“We want to resolve this peaceful[ly] and [in a] friendly [manner]. China pays much attention to China and ASEAN relationship,” says Du Lan, an assistant research fellow at the CIIS, an institution that contributes to the crafting of China’s foreign policy.
Just a week earlier during China’s military parade commemorating its victory against Japan in the World War II, President Xi Jinping said that China “will never seek hegemony or expansion.”
Still, China won’t back down in its island and reef construction, insisting that it has sovereignty over the disputed waters.
It continues to oppose the Philippines’ decision to bring the matter to an international tribunal and wants bilateral negotiations instead.
Despite this, China still wants other aspects of the relations to flourish and wants to further boost trade and development.
“GREAT LEADERS’ APPOINTMENT”
The visiting journalists were made to see the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) in Suzhou City where an oil painting entitled “Great Leaders Appointment” looms large in its exhibition hall.
It depicts the meeting of China’s late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew.
A 20-year product of collaboration between China and Singapore, the SIP has become a development and residential zone that has attracted foreign capital.
China’s message: Everyone benefits in joint development.
It was Deng who first espoused the Chinese principle of shelving differences and seeking joint development in dealing with territorial disputes.
Singapore is not a claimant country in the South China Sea.
PH BIGGEST MARKET FOR CHINESE BUS COMPANY
Chinese firms prefer to separate business from politics as well, with Higer Bus Company reporting a ten to twenty percent annual growth in the number of buses that it sells to Filipino bus companies and entities despite political tensions between the two countries.
“Business is business. Politics is politics. It’s different,” Higer’s Southeast Asia sales manager, Allen Zhou, tells ABS-CBN.
The Philippines is the company’s biggest market in Southeast Asia.
CHINA RADIO’S FILIPINO SERVICE
China also wants to promote cultural understanding between the Chinese and Filipino people as its China Radio International continues to maintain a Filipino service among several other foreign languages.
It airs news and cultural programs not only for its Filipino but also its Chinese audience as well.
Radio host and Filipino service director Jade Xian, who knows how to speak Filipino, is optimistic about relations between China and the Philippines.
“Bilang isang… intercultural communication practitioner, pinakamahalaga ang pananaw na pangkasaysayan at pangkasalukuyan. Ibig sabihin, pansamantala lang po ang alitan. Pero kung balik-tanawin natin ang kasaysayan, matagal ang pagkakaibigan ng mamamayan ng dalawang bansa. At ang future or sa pananaw na panghinaharap, sa tingin ko po, sa pamamagitan ng pagsisikap po namin o natin, mas maganda o gaganda din po ang kinabukasan,” Xian says.
Text: Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
