Palace: No word yet on cancellation of Arroyo’s China visit

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrived shortly before midnight Saturday from a four-day trip in New York City, where she attended the 62nd UN General Assembly (UNGA), spoke as a panelist at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) forum and met with business leaders and the Filipino community. Mrs Arroyo arrived at the NAIA Centennial Terminal at 11:55 p.m., where she was given arrival honors by the military led by Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. However, the President is scheduled to leave again for China and India on October 2 at 4:50 a.m. She will be in China on October 2-4 and in India on October 4-5. In China, Mrs Arroyo is scheduled to attend the World Summer Special Olympics and meet with Chinese officials in Shanghai and Shandong. In India, she will meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and address business leaders in New Delhi and the financial hub of Mumbai. But two days before Mrs Arroyo is scheduled to leave, talk circulated that the President will cancel the China leg and just proceed to India, following the controversy generated by the National Broadband Network (NBN) project between the Philippine government and Chinese firm ZTE Corp. Presidential Security Group commander Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza and Press Undersecretary for media relations Jose Capadocia Jr. said no advice has yet been given about the possible cancellation of the China trip. An airport official also said the advice they received so far is that the trip to China will push through. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita could not be contacted. In New York City, Mrs Arroyo told the UNGA that there is a need to build bridges of peace and prosperity even as she stressed the need for international cooperation and financial support to promote strategies to adapt to climate change. She also said the Philippines respects human rights and called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi for the restoration of peace and democracy in troubled Myanmar. “We have patiently but persistently advised Myanmar within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that it must make greater and faster progress toward that goal," she said. - GMANews.TV