China foreign minister visits Philippines seeking to strengthen ties

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with his Philippines counterpart, Enrique Manalo as Wang pushes for what he calls a “new golden era,” for China-Philippines relations. 

Wang met with Philippines’ newly elected President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, to discuss bilateral ties and territorial disputes in the West Philippines Sea. “The agenda I’m sure will be to strengthen ties between China and the Philippines. And of course, to find ways to work to resolve the conflicts that we have,” said Marcos, during a press meeting on Tuesday. 

Maritime border disputes in the South China Sea have long been an origin of diplomatic tension for China, the Philippines, and five other neighboring nations, including Taiwan. However, Marcos said that “Let’s add to that: let’s have cultural exchanges, educational exchanges, even military, if that will be useful.”

“I’m confident that with the two sides working together, we can surely open a new golden era for the bilateral relationship,” said Wang. “We highly appreciate President Marcos’ recent commitment to pursuing friendly policy towards China and we speak highly of these recent statements that have sent out a very positive signal to the outside world.” 

In addition to Wang’s visit to the Philippines, Wang will join another G20 foreign minister meeting later this week in Bali, Indonesia.