29 August 2013 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario today said that ASEAN and China are strategic partners with common interest and as friends with common ideals and aspirations, citing centuries of trade and people-to-people links between the two sides.
“Ten years of mutually beneficial relations among our countries is but a small part in our collective history. The task at hand is to translate 10 years of formal strategic partnership and centuries of mutually beneficial relations into a stable and progressive future for our peoples. I am confident that together, ASEAN and China will meet this challenge head-on,” Secretary del Rosario said at the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Beijing.
The Meeting was convened as part of commemorative activities marking the 10th anniversary of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership.
Secretary del Rosario cited that over the years, ASEAN and China have been able to cooperate effectively in many areas of convergence under the ASEAN-China banner such as agriculture, information and communication technology, human resource development, investment, energy, transport, culture, public health, tourism and the environment.
He said that the Philippines recently ratified the ASEAN-China Memorandum of Understanding on Health Cooperation to enhance health and medical science capabilities in the region and looks forward to its full operationalization.
“The Philippines firmly believes in mirroring our political cooperation at the people-to-people level to bring the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership to a higher plane. Initiatives to boost two-way tourism, cultural and institutional exchanges, especially those spearheaded by the ASEAN-China Center, are helpful in this regard and must be maintained,” the Secretary emphasized.
Secretary del Rosario also expressed the Philippine support for the designation of 2014 as the ASEAN-China Cultural Exchange Year and the adoption of a Joint Statement on the 10thAnniversary of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership at the 16th ASEAN-China Summit in Brunei in October as an impetus for deepening ASEAN-China relations.
The Secretary added that the Philippines looks forward to modalities and governance arrangements for the ASEAN-China Maritime Cooperation Fund to ensure cross-sectoral cooperation, like support for the implementation of the ASEAN-China Maritime Transport Agreement, as well as maritime security and connectivity initiatives.
ASEAN is composed of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. China is one of ASEAN’s dialogue partners. END