Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua. INQUIRER.net PHOTO
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua has downplayed the current travel advisory of Beijing warning its citizens against going to the Philippines, saying the country remains safe for foreign tourists.
“There is an advisory, but it is just an advice not an order. Sure, we are encouraging more Chinese to come to the Philippines,” said Zhao who graced the launch of an exhibit on Philippine fiestas and festivals at the Department of Foreign Affairs headquarters on Tuesday afternoon.
The travel advisory issued by Beijing on September 12 last year following a purported bomb plot at the Chinese Embassy in Manila and the kidnapping of an 18-year-old Chinese man remains in effect as no announcement on its lifting has been made.
“We are glad to see the authorities of the Philippine government…creating better environment for foreign tourists, including Chinese tourists,” Zhao told reporters.
He admitted that despite the travel ban, more Chinese tourists continued to flock to the Philippines. China has also remained to be among the country’s top sources of tourists, along with South Korea, United States, Japan, and Australia,
Zhao was the main guest in the exhibit showcasing photography of Donald Tapan that features dazzling images of Ati-atihan, Masskara, Sinulog, Panagbenga and Higantes Festivals at the DFA, which is part of traveling exhibits on Philippine culture being developed jointly by the DFA and the National Commission on the Culture and the Arts to be exhibited in the Philippine Foreign Service Posts in China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Foreign ambassadors including Zhao and members of the Philippine diplomatic corps were treated to various performances at its opening ceremony, marking the first of several cultural projects to be launched this year to celebration the 40th anniversary of the Philippines and China’s diplomatic relations.
“Despite some of the differences we have, our two countries remain friends and partners,” Zhao said.
In his speech at the event at the DFA, however, Zhao did not made mention about the strain in the relations between the Philippines and China caused by the bitter territorial row over the South China Sea, but focused on the historical ties of the two countries.
“The Chinese and Filipino people began its friendly exchanges over 1,000 years ago, starting from China’s Ming Dynasty, ” Zhao said stressing the trade of silk and agricultural crops at the time.
“Our two nations are intertwined by historic ties. We are destined to be friends and partners,” he said without the mention of the current legal challenge posed by Manila against its sweeping claims over South China Sea.
Also on Tuesday, the DFA and the Chinese Embassy launched the website on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and China https://www.philippine-exhibit.com.
The DFA said the Philippines-China@40 website serves as a portal of information on the cultural projects that have been or will be implemented in Manila and in the Philippine Foreign Service Posts in China to mark the 40-year milestone in bilateral relations.
“We believe that this year is an opportunity to further strengthen the Philippines’ cultural ties with China and promote greater people-to-people understanding between our two countries,” DFA Assistant Secretary Minda Calaguian-Cruz said in her remarks.
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