Just recently, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian became controversial when he made a speech at the 8th Manila Forum.
In it, he was quoted as having ‘advised’ the Philippines to “oppose Taiwan’s independence instead of offering the United States’ access to its military facilities near the Taiwan Strait.”
Ambassador Huang was also quoted as having said “the Philippine government should do this if it cares for the 150,000 overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan.”
Immediately, the social media went abuzz, unfortunately to the point of twisting the words that came out of the good Ambassador’s mouth.
He was accused of so many things, none of which is true. I can personally vouch for his character and the high respect he has for the Philippines, its officials and its people as a whole.
Ambassador Huang will not do or say anything that will slight the Filipinos or its government. It’s just not in his character.
The Chinese Embassy, in its statement, said that while they appreciate the extensive coverage on Ambassador Huang Xilian’s speech, “unfortunately, some misquoted or misinterpreted Ambassador Huang’s remarks or simply took part of the Ambassador’s words out of context.
To stress its point, the Chinese Embassy even released the whole, official transcript of the speech made by Ambassador Xilian.
Particularly on the issue, this is what he had said: “Some tried to find excuse for the new EDCA sites by citing the safety of the 150,000 OFWs in Taiwan, while China is the last country that wishes to see conflict over the Strait because people on both sides are Chinese.”
It’s good that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. is not as quick to jump to conclusion and showed the mark of a true leader, by stating that he will have to speak with the Chinese Ambassador in order to clarify and understand exactly what the speech or particular comment means.
“I think there must have been an element of… ‘yung lost in translation. English is not his first language. I’m very interested to know what it is that he meant. I believe, I interpret it as him trying to say you should not… Philippines do not… provoke or intensify the tensions because it will impact badly on the Filipinos. That’s how I take it,” President Marcos had said.
“We were all a little surprised, but I just put it down to the difference of language….I will be talking to the ambassador, I’m sure he will be very anxious to give his interpretation of what he was trying to say,” the President added.
In a speech at a later event, Ambassador Huang stressed the relationship between the two countries.
“Philippines and China have been friends for centuries, if not millenniums, and we believe friendship is the mainstream of China-Philippines relations…we also believe that China and Philippines’ friendship will last forever,” he said.
This, to me, is the more believable version of Ambassador Huang. I have known him for some time and I can guarantee that he is not a bully who has to be booted out of the country, as some say.
Ambassador Huang is a soft-spoken person who is intelligent and kind. He loves this country and as I have stated earlier, will not do or say anything to offend anyone or hurt or destroy the good relations between China and the Philippines.
English had never been his native tongue and twisting what he actually meant is not fair to the good Ambassador.
Clearly, the Chinese envoy was indeed taken out of context, misinterpreted and misquoted. Tsk.
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