The President of the Philippines Meets with Wang Yi: China has decided to provide the Philippines with a batch of new crown vaccines for free
According to news from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on January 16, 2021 local time, Philippine President Duterte met with visiting State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila.
Wang Yi conveyed the cordial greetings of President Xi Jinping to Duterte. Wang Yi said that China highly appreciates the series of political decisions and strategic foresight that His Excellency the President has made to promote the turnaround and continuous development of China-Philippines relations. During my visit, I hope to convey three messages to the Philippines:
First, China fully supports the Philippines in fighting the epidemic. Solidarity and cooperation is the most powerful weapon to defeat the epidemic. China and the Philippines have supported and helped each other in the fight against the epidemic, and the friendship between the two peoples has been further sublimated in the joint fight against the epidemic. China understands that vaccines are the top priority of the Philippines, and decided to provide a batch of vaccines to the Philippines free of charge, and will guide companies to promote vaccine procurement cooperation with the Philippines as soon as possible. The Philippines is a good friend and brother of China, and China is willing to do everything it can to help the Philippines fight the epidemic.
Second, China strongly supports the Philippines in achieving economic recovery as soon as possible. The Chinese side will continue to participate in the “Build, Build, Build” plan proposed by the Philippines and actively promote cooperation on major projects. In recent years, the two parties have successfully completed 11 projects, 12 of which are under or about to be implemented, and other projects are also actively discussed. China is willing to accelerate relevant cooperation in accordance with the needs of the Philippine side, help the Philippine economy recover, and push bilateral cooperation to be further strengthened in the post-epidemic period.
Third, China firmly supports the Philippines in safeguarding national sovereignty and national dignity. We are willing to work hand in hand with the Philippines to firmly safeguard our respective legitimate rights and interests on the international and regional stages, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and safeguard international fairness and justice.
Wang Yi said that he believes that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Philippines relations will surely develop steadily and healthy forward.
Duterte asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping. Duterte said that the Philippines and China maintain close high-level exchanges, which provides strategic guidance for the solid development of bilateral relations. The Philippines will firmly implement the important consensus reached between the two sides on developing the Philippines-China comprehensive strategic cooperative relationship. The Philippines is very grateful to China for its strong support to the Philippines in fighting the epidemic, especially the timely donation of vaccines, and looks forward to strengthening vaccine cooperation with China. China plays an important role in promoting regional economic recovery. Thank China for its important contribution to the infrastructure construction of the Philippines. The Philippine side is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to realize economic recovery at an early date and benefit the Philippine people as soon as possible. I believe that China will do what it says, and it will do what it says. The Philippine side will also firmly safeguard the overall friendship between the two countries, and we are full of confidence in the development of China and the Philippines-China relations.
On the same day, Wang Yi also held talks with Philippine Foreign Minister Lochin and attended the launching ceremony of the “China-Philippines Manila Forum” and the establishment ceremony of the “China-Philippines Mutual Awareness Award” with former Philippine President Arroyo via video connection. The two sides announced the launch of a “fast channel” for necessary personnel exchanges between the two countries.
