FORMER Pres. Rodrigo Duterte does not need to ask permission to visit his friend, the Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping.
This is what President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said in response to the meeting between Duterte and Xi in Beijing, China on Monday.
“No? [did he ask] permission? He doesn’t need to. I know that he [Duterte] will go there. They know each other and they’re friends.”
“So I hope that they talked about the current issues— the shadowing ones, and things like that.”
“All of these things that we are seeing now, I hope that they talked about it so we can have progress because that’s what we are really after—for talks to continue,” President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said.
Pres. Marcos open to possibility of FPRRD helping improve Ph-Ch dialogue
Pres. Marcos said he is open to having a new line of communication with China through former Pres. Duterte.
“That’s why I welcome any new lines of communication.”
“It’s not important to me who or what it is, as long as it helps us with communicating [with China]. “I am sure that he will have— not really a report,” President Marcos added.
Former Pres. Duterte and Pres. Xi Jinping met at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing with Xi telling Duterte that China is ready to promote steady and sustained relations with the Philippines. Xi also praised Duterte’s significant contributions to bringing Philippine-China relations back on the right track.
The relationship between the Philippines and China significantly improved under the Duterte administration following several years of tension that sparked during the administration of former President Noynoy Aquino.
