Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada will go to China’s military parade this week marking Japan’s depeat in World War II despite the regional strains in the middle of Manila and Beijing, his representative said on Monday.
“He will be going as an invited guest. Manila is the sister city of Beijing and he is going as mayor of Manila,” Cagahastian told AFP. He will flew to China on Monday and will return on September 6, he added.
Recently, Estrada was quoted as saying he trusted China would help in the modernization of the Philippines and that relations would make strides soon.
See also: Joseph Estrada wants China’s assistance to modernize the Philippines
We can also remember that the Philippine government never planned to say sorry to the Hong Kong government regarding the bloody hostage crisis in Manila but Erap did, he went to Hong Kong to personally say sorry.
Japan won’t attend in the event
According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won’t visit China around the time of a “war victory ceremony” in Beijing on Sept. 3.
China will hold the function, which its administration portrays as celebrating the 70th commemoration of China’s “victory in the war against Japan,” on that day in Beijing. Abe had been considering a visit to China around the day of the occasion.
“We made the decision partly because of the situation in the Diet. We will continue to work to arrange occasions on which our leaders can hold frank discussions, utilizing such events as international conferences,” as indicated by Suga.
China has invited other nations to the functions. Russia and South Korean leaders President Vladimir Putin and President Park Geun-hye will visit China at that time.
Abe had been considering a visit to China before or after Sept. 3 to hold a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, yet did not plan to go to the function. Likewise, pioneers of the United States and European nations chose not to go to the function, driving the Japanese government to consider that Abe ought to act working together with them.
The administration anticipates that discussions will be arranged amid a summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in November in the Philippines, or a summit meeting of the Group of 20 nations in Turkey.
