BY ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN: CHINA'S NEW DECADE
MANILA, JANUARY 21, 2011 (STAR) SKETCHES By Ana Marie Pamintuan - Two Sundays ago the ambassadors of China, Germany and the United States played golf at the Manila Golf Club, on the invitation of the Chinese envoy, Liu Jianchao.
Liu, who took up golf only a year and a half ago, shortly after his arrival in Manila, swore they didn't keep score so there was no winner (and no cheating). All he would say was that he finished 18 holes; US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr., a former baseball player, did nine; and Germany's Christian Ludwig Weber-Lortsch played the best game.
The game between the top diplomats of China and the US in Manila had been in the works for many months. Thomas told me about plans for it shortly after his arrival last year.
At the dawn of a new decade, many quarters see growing competition – military, economic, geopolitical – between the world's lone superpower and Asia's economic powerhouse.
If you talk to the two countries' representatives in Manila, they will give you similar lines: their nations have become interdependent in many aspects, with their economies increasingly integrated, for them to want conflict in bilateral ties.
In the second decade of the new millennium, Liu says his government does not see competition but "more cooperation… a constructive, positive and comprehensive relationship… between China and the United States."
Asked why he invited Thomas for the first time to a round of golf, Liu replied with a grin, "Ambassadors like to have fun. It's a game among friends. We really enjoy each other's company."
I asked if he might one day accompany Thomas to a visit to Zamboanga City, where hundreds of American soldiers under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines are stationed within a Philippine military camp. British diplomats have accompanied their American counterparts to the camp of JSOTF-P, which provides assistance to the Armed Forces of the Philippines in counterterrorism.
Liu seemed unaware of JSOTF-P. Some quarters have speculated that among the objectives of US military presence in the Philippines is to foil any projection of Chinese military influence in this part of the world.
But Liu said that while Asia should be a region for Asians, it should also be open to the world.
"We respect the interests of the US in this region and China is in no way seeking competition with the US in this part of the world," he told me. "We're very much willing to work with the United States."
Over in Washington on Wednesday night, US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle feted Chinese President Hu Jintao to a dinner at the White House. The move raised concern among human rights advocates and (some suspect) prompted Taiwan to test-fire about 20 air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles on Tuesday. But other quarters saw the summit between Obama and Hu as a positive step in promoting bilateral ties and global stability.
As Liu emphasized, a constructive relationship "benefits not only the people of the two countries but the world as a whole."
The only son of two democracy icons, Benigno Aquino III, apparently agrees. And it looks like he believes stronger ties with Asia's dragon is also in the interest of the Philippines. He told The STAR at the start of the year that China was one of only a handful of countries he intended to visit this year. The Chinese embassy is now preparing for the state visit, with the exact date still unspecified.
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I talked with Liu at the embassy residence yesterday (no problem this time with the guards of Dasmariñas Village), where the staff was busy preparing for today's New Year reception for the media.
Traditional round, red Chinese lanterns symbolizing harmony adorn the skylight of the central reception area. The walls are adorned with giant Chinese charms in the shape of fish (the Mandarin word for fish sounds like surplus or abundance), knots in diamond shapes (symbolizing closeness and unity), and strings of red chili (good harvest).
The Chinese are also preparing for the Lunar New Year, a Rabbit year, on Feb. 3.
"We hope this year will be a year of enhanced exchanges and cooperation between the two countries," Liu said, with the scandal over the ZTE broadband deal "an issue of the past decade."
He has urged Chinese investors to continue exploring investment prospects in the Philippines despite the experience of ZTE, one of China's largest multinational corporations, and the ongoing government review of the North Rail contract.
Last year Chinese investment in the Philippines amounted to only $70 million, but Liu said this was because people tend to hedge their bets when there is a change of government. Chinese investors have expressed interest in participating in the public-private partnership (PPP) program but are waiting for clearer rules from Manila.
They are happy to see the Aquino administration committed to clean and transparent governance, Liu said.
They also hope to move on after the Aug. 23 hostage crisis, which failed to dampen tourist arrivals in the Philippines from the Chinese mainland. About 280,000 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines in 2010, up by 30 percent from the previous year. Liu said Hong Kong is considering easing its total travel ban to the Philippines, which was imposed after the hostage mess.
He said China is committed to sustaining the pace of reforms and pursuing peaceful development even with the change in their national leadership next year.
There is speculation that the Chinese military is trying to wield more influence over Hu and his expected successor, Xi Jinping. When US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited China recently, Beijing sent its J-20, prototype of its fifth-generation fighter jets, on its first test flight. Beijing is said to be developing stealth capability for its fighter jets.
Liu and other Chinese diplomats like to stress that they are modernizing their military simply for defensive purposes – one that will give them the capability to protect their people and vast territory.
China is one or perhaps even two decades behind the US in military capability, Liu said. He added that their defense spending constituted only 1.4 percent of GDP in 2009 "and has remained so for the last two decades."
In the new decade, Liu said, China "will certainly play a positive and responsible role in the world… China will continue on the road of peaceful development."
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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