China and PNoy: Time out for a meeting

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, who spent six days in Beijing representing the Philippines in the Apec ministers meeting and senior officials’ meeting.

Arriving ahead of the Philippine delegation, she described not sensing any awkwardness knowing the dispute in territorial security between the two countries.

“I did not sense any awkwardness when the President attended the CEO summit yesterday. He also did not mention anything,” said Valte.

On the other hand, PNOY has held his punches, being asked about the territorial dispute by some APEC deligations. he said “triple-action plan,” humbling and returning favor to former Chinese President Hu Jintao who has visited our country 3 years ago.

Meanwhile, Valte said there is a scheduled bilateral meeting between PNoy and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“They will have a chance to see each other during the retreat as well as the welcome dinner,”.

“We have been engaging, we have been sending observer teams, not just to the leaders’ summit this week in Beijing, but also to … other Apec-related events. We have not encountered problems with the current host,”.

“The current host has been very, very gracious. They made sure their [guests] were comfortable, secure and were able to focus on the substantives of the meeting that have been conducted,” Valte said.