Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 18) — Beyond the signing of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and photo opportunities, the country’s ambassador to China on Wednesday said the East Asian giant must “actually deliver” on its investment pledges and bilateral deals to further strengthen ties.
“I think that we should go beyond the signing of MOUs or the photo ops, and instead, after all those things are done, we hope to see the fruition. We hope to see tangible benefits that come out from a good PH-China relation,” Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz told CNN Philippines’ Politics As Usual.
“If China really wants to have a good image in the Philippines, they need to deliver the promises, the pledged investments, the government-to-government projects, and the grants that we have secured during the last visit,” he added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese leader Xi Jinping signed 14 bilateral agreements during his state visit to China on Jan. 3 to 5.
The trip yielded a total of $22.8 billion (over ₱1.2 trillion) in investment pledges, according to the Palace.
But FlorCruz acknowledged that seeing those into fruition is the “harder part.”
“So give us time. Let’s keep an open mind when we view China. But also, we will coexist with China with the self-respect and integrity that we all wish,” he said.
‘ ’56’: ‘contentWidth’: ‘100%’ ’embedCode’: ‘
PH Ambassador to China FlorCruz: I also want them (China) to realize that we, as a nation, are a rising economy and that we can be a good destination for investment, trade, commerce.
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) January 18, 2023
