Chinese Vice Premier cancels Manila visit

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang has cancelled his official visit to Manila, supposedly set for the first week of September. But the Department of Foreign Affairs clarified the cancellation had nothing to do with the hostage-taking incident that is straining diplomatic relations between the two countries. Li was supposed to arrive for a three-day visit September 5 to 7. He would have been the first high-level official of any country to visit the two-month-old Aquino government and was hoping to reaffirm his country’s strategic partnership with the Philippines. In the hierarchy of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Li is set to succeed Wen Jiabao as Premier in the “fifth generation" of the CPC leadership. Premier Wen steps down in 2013. The Chinese Embassy said it is uncertain for now if Li’s visit will be reset at all, to when and for how long. DFA Spokesman Ed Malaya said the Chinese Foreign Ministry informed the Philippine Embassy in Beijing about the postponement even before Aug. 23, the date when the hostage-taking incident took place. “The visit was postponed in view of the natural disasters that have recently beset China which resulted in many casualties and destruction," Malaya said in a text message. The Chinese Embassy confirmed that the Vice Premier decided to forgo the trip to personally handle relief efforts in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which was devastated by mudslides last month. Malaya said the Philippine Embassy received the notice August 20 and that Li likewise postponed his visit to two other member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The visit would have been part of the commemoration of RP-China bilateral relations that entered its 35th year in June. Chinese President Hu Jintao and former President Gloria Arroyo pledged to break new ground in Philippine-China bilateral relations and increase friendly exchanges as the two countries reaffirm the commitment to move bilateral relations to a higher level of partnership and cooperation. Li was supposed to meet his counterpart, Vice President Jejomar Binay. A courtesy call on President Aquino was also being arranged. Aside from the state of general relations, Li would be reaffirming his government’s commitment to the framework of cooperation for strategic partnership signed two years ago. The Philippines was bracing for a discussion on the issue of the disputed South China Sea (SCS), an issue China was expected to raise. In the last ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi, the Philippines raised anew the commitment of parties toward adopting a Regional Code of Conduct in the SCS and the reconvening of the ASEAN-China Joint Working Group meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the SCS (DOC). The Philippines is among five claimants contesting the oil-rich Spratly chain of islands in the SCS. China and Vietnam claim the whole of the SCS, while the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan lay claim to only a fraction. Diplomatic relations between the two countries had been shaken following Monday’s hostage-taking incident that killed eight tourists from Hong Kong. The Chinese Foreign Ministry had turned down a high-level Philippine delegation that was to have left on Thursday for Hong Kong and Beijing. The Ministry said they’d rather that the Philippine government first complete its investigation on the hostage crisis as soon as possible. “On the hostage incident involving Hong Kong tourists, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Embassy in Beijing have kept in constant touch. The MFA has emphasized China’s positions to the Philippine side many times. Both sides are keeping in close coordination. We believe that the most urgent task is to have a complete investigation of the matter as soon as possible," China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jiang Yu said. A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday said Minister Yang Jiechi talked with his Philippine counterpart, Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, over the phone on Monday. Yang urged the Philippine side to rescue and bring the hostages to safety, and expressed how the Chinese government attached great importance to the incident’s quick resolution. But after the police assault to rescue the hostages, eight of whom were killed, Yang said his government was deeply shocked and strongly condemned the atrocity committed by the hostage-taker against innocent tourists. “The Chinese side has urged the Philippine side to launch a thorough investigation, provide detailed report to the Chinese side, exert the utmost to save the injured and properly deal with the aftermath of the incident," the statement said. China has sent a working team to the Philippines to deal with the aftermath together with the Chinese Embassy. They urged the Philippine government to take concrete measures to ensure the safety and security of the Chinese citizens in the Philippines. Meanwhile the Philippines said it is still finalizing arrangements for the high-level delegation composed of Binay, Romulo and Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda to proceed to Beijing and Hong Kong. “While the delegation is ready to leave anytime, there is an understanding between both sides that the Philippine delegation will bring a full report of Monday’s incident," the DFA statement said in reply to the position made by China on the supposed high-level visit to explain what happened and personally deliver the President’s messages when meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing and Hong Kong. It was only in the DFA’s latest statement, four days after the tragedy, that the Philippines expressed clear condemnation of what happened. “The Department of Foreign Affairs reiterates its condemnation of the violence perpetuated by Rolando Mendoza. Nothing could ever justify the senseless act of holding hostage and threatening and carrying out physical violence on innocent civilians including children," the statement said. The DFA said the Filipino nation shares the outrage and indignation of all peace-loving peoples of the world over the killing of the Hong Kong hostages. “We believe that the strong and long-standing ties of friendship and cooperation between the governments and peoples of the Philippines and China and Hong Kong shall overcome this sad episode," the DFA said in a statement.—GMANews.TV (VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look into current issues. Vera is latin for “true".)