On November 20th, Xi Jinping’s Asia-Pacific trip entered the third stop and made a state visit to the Philippines. In April this year, President Xi met with President Duterte in Boao, Hainan, saying that Sino-Philippine relations have changed from “transfer” to “consolidation” in the past two years. This year’s task should be “improvement.” During this visit, the two leaders unanimously made an important decision which became a key step in the “improvement” of bilateral relations.
On the afternoon of the 20th, President Xi held talks with Philippine President Duterte. Two days ago, they had just attended the twenty-sixth APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Palestine Port Moresby. During this visit, president Xi emphasized that the two sides should push deeply forward the cooperation in the three pillars of security, development and humanities. Also he mentioned that helping the Philippines to carry out more social and livelihood projects such as poverty alleviation and expand exchanges and cooperation in education, culture as well as tourism.
President Xi lifted a quote from Philippine proverb: Only when you seize today can you not lose tomorrow. The exchange of ships and merchants between our two countries began more than a thousand years ago. Now, we have entered a new era of comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation. The Sino-Philippines relations will surely make a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.
Undoubtedly, the biggest achievement of this talk is the unanimous decision of the two leaders to establish a comprehensive strategic win-win cooperation between China and the Philippines on the basis of mutual respect, honesty, equality and mutual benefit. Guided by the strategy of the two leaders, China and the Philippines adhere to the general direction of good-neighborliness and friendship, establish the great goal of common development, and carry forward the great wisdom of divergence.