CHINA abruptly canceled the scheduled official visit of Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng to finalize about 40 joint projects worth billions of dollars that were agreed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s state visit to China last October.
Both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry could not explain why the visit was canceled but they dismissed speculations that it was connected with Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay’s remarks during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Yasay said Asean foreign ministers were unsettled and had grave concerns about China’s move to militarize manmade islands, including installation of weapons systems, in the South China Sea.
Gao was scheduled to arrive in Manila on Thursday with a large delegation but China informed the Philippines on Wednesday afternoon they would not be coming due to “urgent domestic concerns.”
“It was a last-minute decision,” said a source at the DTI. “We were only informed about it and we’re not privy to any information about the cancellation.”
But Bloomberg, citing a Wall Street Journal report, confirmed that Beijing is planning to appoint new heads to some key economic and financial regulatory bodies.
The report said Gao will step down as commerce minister to be replaced by his deputy Zhong Shan as part of revamp meant to address risks of a trade clash with the US.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the two sides had yet to set a new date for the meeting on the pending projects but were looking at early March.
The Philippines has submitted to Beijing a list of 40 small- and large-scale infrastructure projects for possible loans and grants. Chinese firms are also keen to invest in the agriculture, fisheries and energy sectors in the Philippines.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez earlier said a six-year development program for China-Philippines cooperation was due to be signed during Gao’s visit.
Dominguez said 15 of the infrastructure projects submitted to China were loan financing, while 25 other projects were for feasibility study support. Three of the large-scale projects are worth $3.4 billion combined.
Meanwhile, Yasay said that China has given the Philippines an assurance that it will not build structures on Manila-owned Scarborough Shoal.
In a luncheon that he graced for the media, Yasay said that the promise was made during President Rodrigo Duterte’s official meeting with China President Xi Jinping in October.
“They have told it to us, that they are not building. In fact, if reports are correct, they have also made this commitment to the United States,” Yasay told the reporters.
“This happened during the [official] visit of the President,” the Foreign chief added, refusing to discuss the details further.
The Scarborough Shoal is within the 200 nautical miles of the Philippines exclusive economic zone located at Palawan’s northwestern coast.
