AJ Press Photo by Joseph L. Peralta
SAN FRANCISCO – “I don’t think anybody wants to go to war,” Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos declared during a press briefing with media at the Ritz Carlton on Friday, November 17 when asked about tensions between China and the Philippines.
“That is the premise to all the discussions we’ve been having… how to maintain the peace so that the sea lanes and the airways over the South China Sea are open and continue to be the important gateway to Asia as it is today,” Marcos said as he explained how the talks between the two countries on easing tensions in the South China Sea are a work-in-progress and cannot be solved easily.
The president also said that both countries are sincere in their desire to keep the peace amid the growing tensions, noting that open communication between China and the Philippines is key to helping calm the heightened situation.
Marcos had requested for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum held from Nov. 11-17 in the Bay Area.
President Marcos characterized the face-to-face meeting with the Chinese president as important as he was able to relay in person the issues facing the two countries, including a recent collision between Chinese and Philippine vessels as well as the plight of Filipino fishermen.
“I once again voiced to him my concern over some of the incidents that were happening between Chinese vessels and Philippine vessels, culminating in an actual collision as we had seen before. And hopefully to find ways to avoid that and have ways to move forward from this situation. Essentially, we tried to come up with mechanisms to lower the tensions in the South China Sea,” Marcos said. “We were in agreement that the problems that we have should not be the defining element of our relationship.”
“As ever, whenever this issue comes up, I bring up the issue of the plight of our fishermen. I asked if we could go back to the situation where both the Filipino and Chinese fishermen were fishing together in these waters… I think the point was well taken by President Xi,” Marcos added.
With regard to what was tackled at the APEC Forum, Marcos revealed that the leaders from participating countries “talked about climate change, artificial intelligence, food security, energy security and what part each of us can play in facing those challenges in the new world economy.”
Marcos also revealed that he was not able to meet with businessman and investor Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The former did not attend APEC due to illness, while his meeting with Trudeau got sidetracked due to the length of the APEC meetings.
“He fell ill, so he was not supposed to come,” Marcos said of Musk.
“This was a missed opportunity… I was really looking forward to it. But we’ll find a way again because we have much to discuss with him in terms of technologies we would like for Tesla to bring to the Philippines, specifically battery technology, even the manufacture of fully-electric vehicles… all of these things that we hope to be a part of in the future,” Marcos further said as he noted Musk’s and Tesla’s leadership in the industry.
While Marcos was not able to meet with Musk and Trudeau, the president was able to meet with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte. In their bilateral meeting, both Marcos and Boluarte discussed some of the topics and issues that may become part of the 2024 agenda. Peru will host the 2024 APEC Forum.
After Marcos’ APEC forum participation, he was scheduled to touch base with Filipino communities in Los Angeles and Hawaii, as well as visit the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. n
