State Counselor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) shakes hands with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Wednesday.[Photo by Wang Jing/China Daily] China-Philippines ties are in the best shape they've ever been, and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will visit China in April to attend the Boao Forum for Asia's annual conference, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. China welcomes Duterte's upcoming trip, and it will further promote the development of ties, Wang said in a joint news conference on Wednesday with visiting Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano following their talk. Cayetano arrived Wednesday and will remain in China through Sunday. He is the first foreign minister to visit since the new lineup of China's central government took office. Wang told reporters the two sides agreed on Wednesday to boost dialogue and cooperation on maritime affairs and advance cooperation in areas such as the exploitation of oil and gas. Regarding cooperation with the Belt and Road Initiative, Wang said Beijing is willing to work more with Manila and boost the synergy in their development strategies to better benefit their people. The two neighbors will convert negative momentum of South China Sea disputes into a positive force that boosts relations, Wang said. Cayetano said the relations are in a golden era, his talk with Wang on Wednesday was productive and the great dialogue between the two sides should be furthered. Despite their differences, the two countries will advance their cooperation in areas including security, he said. In August, the Philippines will take the chair of the coordinating country moderating ties between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. China will work with the Philippine government to ensure the success of a number of events, such as the commemoration of the 15th anniversary of China-ASEAN strategic partnership, Wang said. China is now the Philippines' largest trade partner, largest source of imports and its fourth-largest export destination. As part of the frequent high level exchanges between Beijing and Manila, President Xi Jinping and Duterte met twice last year. Bilateral trade reached $51.2 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 8.5 percent. China has become the Philippines' second-largest source of foreign visitors, and close to 1 million trips were made by Chinese to the country last year. Zhao Jianhua, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, told China News Service earlier this month that the two countries are pushing for cooperation on more programs and it is believed that more cooperative projects will be initiated this year. This will serve as a bigger impetus facilitating Philippine economic development and public livelihoods, Zhao said. silicone wristbands canadafuck cancer braceletwristbands for events
SEOUL -?Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Donald Trump held a telephone conversation Thursday night over possible preliminary talks between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Yonhap news agency reported.The phone talks between Moon and Trump, the first in about a month, were held at around 10 pm local time (1300 GMT), Yoon Young-chan, senior press secretary for the ROK president, was quoted as saying.Moon explained to Trump that the DPRK had shown its willingness to talk with the United States, persuading the US president to get into an exploratory dialogue with Pyongyang to figure out what the DPRK intends to do while keeping a stance of maximum pressure on the Asian country.A high-ranking DPRK delegation to the closing ceremony of the 23rd Winter Olympics, which was held Sunday in ROK's east county of Pyeongchang, conveyed top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un's message that Pyongyang had enough willingness to hold a dialogue with Washington.Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea who led the DPRK delegation, said doors are open for talks with the United States, raising a possibility for preliminary talks between Pyongyang and Washington.The DPRK leader had sent his younger sister Kim Yo-jong to the Olympic opening ceremony. The younger Kim met with Moon, extending the DPRK leader's invitation to the ROK president to visit Pyongyang at a convenient time.In response, Moon told the younger Kim that the two Koreas should create conditions to realize the possible third inter-Korean summit, asking the DPRK side to more actively engage in a dialogue with the United States.The first inter-Korean summit was held in Pyongyang in 2000, followed by the second one there in 2007.
