China ambassador hopes Locsin as special envoy will boost ties with PH

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said on Tuesday that he welcomed the appointment of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. as special envoy to the People’s Republic of China.

“We look forward to him continuously playing a positive role in managing the differences [between the Philippines and China] and boosting the bilateral ties. We’re hoping that our two sides will also make full use of all existing maritime [mechanisms] to handle disputes in a timely manner,” Huang said.

Huang was speaking at the 9th Manila Forum, an event staged at the New Era University in Quezon City by the Association for Philippines-China Understanding and AsianCenturyPH.com.

Last Aug. 16, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Locsin as the special envoy to China.

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. (File photo by BEN STANSALL / Agence France-Presse)

He made the appointment as tensions between China and the Philippines continued to grow. This was after the China Coast Guard blocked and fired water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard vessels in the West Philippine Sea on Aug. 5.

In 2016, in a case filed by the Philippines against China, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague, Netherlands ruled in favor of the Philippines, affirming its exclusive sovereign rights to the West Philippine Sea. But despite this ruling, Chinese maritime vessels continued to swarm and act aggressively in the area.

Meanwhile, Huang insisted that “the United States, along with other nations, cause nothing but chaos in the South China Sea.”

“Recently, the US fanned up the flames of the [Ayungin Shoal] dispute and disrupted the peace and tranquility in the South China Sea. China hopes that regional countries will maintain necessary vigilance against such evil [acts] and hold the initiative of maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea in their own hands,” he said.

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