No Davao visit for Chinese leader Xi Jinping

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  —  President Xi Jinping of China is not coming to the hometown of President Duterte during his two-day state visit on Nov. 19 and 20.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, government caretaker while Duterte travels to Singapore and Papua New Guinea (PNG), told The STAR that Xi will not make a side visit here. 

Sources at the Chinese embassy confirmed Medialdea’s statement.

In January last year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stayed overnight here and had breakfast at Duterte’s house.

Meanwhile, Duterte is in Singapore for the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders Summit with Dialogue Partners. He will proceed to Port Moresby in PNG for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2018 conference after the ASEAN Summit.

Duterte is set to return to the country on Nov. 18 from PNG.

Meanwhile, Xi is skipping the ASEAN meetings but is set to attend the APEC meetings in PNG. He will visit Brunei Darussalam before proceeding to Manila on Nov. 19.

Xi’s visit to the Philippines is in response to the invitation of Duterte during the President’s first visit to China in October 2016.

Duterte reiterated his invitation to Xi during the APEC meeting in November 2016 in Lima, Peru. 

Xi’s visit next week was formally announced during the Boao Forum in Hainan, China last April.

For his part, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. earlier described Xi’s visit as a continuation of a long and great friendship between China and  the Philippines. 

“We have had eight visits from top-ranking Chinese leaders, which only shows that this is not new. The visit of President Xi Jinping is the visit of one of China’s greatest architects in her development and progress. This is of course a milestone for us, but at the same time, it is not a rare event,” Locsin said.