Ex-ambassador Fu Ying invites Golez to visit China

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez was invited the other day to visit China to see developments in agriculture, just a few days after he had accused the Chinese of smuggling drugs into the country.

The invitation was made by Chinese foreign ministry director general Fu Ying, who was ambassador to Manila during the Estrada administration.

Golez told The STAR yesterday he would be happy to visit China, adding that reporters had misquoted him and that he didn’t say that the Chinese are engaged in the drugs trade.

"I was trying to discuss the possible cooperation between the Philippines and China to combat drug trafficking but what was highlighted was the background on Chinese involvement reported before," he said.

Golez said he was delighted to meet Fu and described the woman diplomat as "very charming," saying that he had been smitten by her.

"I’m more than charmed," he said.

Fu said she also found Golez "very nice and sweet," and that she noticed that he was a "good speaker" as he had told her a lot of "good" stories.

"It’s good to hear his stories," she said.

But Fu told reporters last Wednesday the Navy’s action of boarding Chinese fishing vessels in waters off the disputed Scarborough Shoal is damaging the country’s image in China.

"The Chinese are very angry (when they see stories in the newspapers and the Internet)," she said. "We are close neighbors and we have differences obviously but we agree to handle them through peaceful means so the encounter between military and civilians is not good."

Fu said the her government wants "a civilian way" of "managing the differences" with Chinese trawlers caught near the shoal instead of using Navy ships against them.

"We are both committed to take action that will complicate the situation and China is serious in keeping that promise and keeping that commitment," she said. "We hope that the other side will do the same. We are concerned that the fishermen are encountered by military vessels."

Fu said the Chinese Embassy should be immediately informed when Chinese fishermen are arrested, and that China would ask the Philippines to temporarily stop fishing off Scarborough Shoal to preserve Marine resources.

"We have very strict laws in illegal fishing and the punishments are high," she said.

Earlier, Golez told reporters illegal narcotics factories in five provinces in eastern China ship some P60 billion worth of shabu to the Philippines yearly.

"Our police told Chinese officials that it was possible that some moonlighting People’s Liberation Army officers are the ones running the manufacturing plants in four or five coastal provinces in China," he said.

In response the Chinese Embassy issued the following statement: "We express intense dissatisfaction in it. Such irresponsible remark is merely a groundless fabrication. The Chinese government treasures the China-Philippines friendly relations. The Chinese government is strongly against crime such as drug trafficking. Laws and regulations have been tabled to punish such criminal activities. The Chinese government will work ways with the Philippine government and other countries to fight all kinds of transnational crime, including drug trafficking."