Imee Marcos mourns passing of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang

(Photo image obtained from the official social media page of Senator Imee R. Marcos)
Statement of Senator Imee R. Marcos on the death of former Premier Li Keqiang of the People’s Republic of China

The hope of mending relations with China cannot be left to die with the man who uttered these words to my brother, our President, at the ASEAN-China Summit in Cambodia last year:

“What we have in common far outweighs our differences.”

The lens of history, if not Premier Li’s words, should motivate both China and the Philippines to work towards the peaceful and fair settlement of issues in the West Philippines Sea.

Perhaps few Filipinos now remember that the  diplomatic relations my father, President Ferdinand E. Marcos established with Chairman Mao Zedong in 1974 laid down just such a modus vivendi that both contained a local communist insurgency and initiated an invaluable friendship with our neighbor, China.

All ideological differences were set aside in the interest of the more urgent concern of peace.

As Asians, we should endeavor, thru our uniquely Asian ways so well understood by Premier Li, to overcome our differences and instead share a future of development and peace.

Indeed, former Premier Li Keqiang was a friend of the Philippines who shall be missed.

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