House Speaker Martin Romualdez described President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s state visit to China as “highly successfu,” lauding the rapport between the Philippine leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In an interview, Romualdez said President Marcos was able to personally convey to President Xi the concerns of the Filipinos in an atmosphere of mutual respect and equality.
“And that’s why this state visit was so successful because we could see the rapport, the personal exchanges between the two presidents,” Romualdez said.
“And the confidence now that they have with one another [and] the sincerity of each head of state’s word and how that will go a long way in addressing all these issues… whether they be contentious or not, moving forward… definitely means a lot to the relations with the People’s Republic of China,” the Speaker said.
The many engagements at different levels also contributed to the success of the state visit, according to Romualdez, with President Marcos meeting Chairman Li Zhanshu of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Premier Li Kequiang and President Xi.
According to the House speaker, these personal engagements mean a lot because the person-to-person meetings lend themselves to not only a better rapport but provide more confidence and a better understanding of the “nuances” of the relationship.
Romualdez reiterated that while the President acknowledged some issues that have been challenging such as concerns like the country’s maritime issues with China, that does not represent the totality or the entirety of the relationship.
For his part, the House leader said he received an instruction from the President to engage their counterparts in China’s parliament for better coordination, more understanding and better cooperation.
Romualdez added that there was an invitation from President Marcos to President Xi to visit the Philippines.
“And from the looks of it, I think that (President Xi’s visit to the Philippines) might be forthcoming because they actually enjoyed each other’s company, and that of their respective first ladies, First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and First Lady Xi Peng, went very well. You could see that there was chemistry right from the start,” Romualdez said. #
