Women legislators in China

GUANDONG, China — “Despite the differences between our governments, and the sometimes provocative words our spokespersons have exchanged, the Communist Party of China has invited our delegation of 15 congresswomen to visit their country, which invitation we accepted, with the blessings of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, in our mutual belief that nothing can severe  the blood ties and the thousand years of friendship between our two peoples.”

With those words, Rep. Gina P. de Venecia expressed the sentiment of her colleagues at the opening last week of a nine-day visit to selected sites in the People’s Republic of China.

She had actually said the same message twice before, when, as president of the Association of Women Legislators Foundation of the Philippines, she led all-women delegations to China.

This third time, the visit is highlighted by  an “interaction” on the 21st Maritime Silk Road initiative and its possible opportunities for ASEAN countries including the Philippines.

This year the legislators’ visits are  to key cities as well as a rural community that showcase the impressive economic and social developments in the communist country. These are Guangzou, Kunmin, and Beijing. But this year’s visit is highlighted by a briefing on the Silk Road Economic Belt which is envisioned to cover Asia and Europe and connectivity in five areas, namely policy, transportation, trade, currency and people. The Belt is a reinvention of the ancient Silk Road linking Asia and Europe through trade.

The initiative, as explained by experts at the Guandong Institute for International Strategies has two components. First, a land-based road connected to a maritime-based road which starts and ends in China. The second, a maritime-based Road called the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road which starts from China’s coast (Fujan Province as the core) through the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and  the Mediterranean Sea with stops in Africa along the way.

Among the ASEAN member states, the Philippines and Vietnam have not made public statements strongly supporting China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Leading the initiative all the way, China has provided monetary sources, including the China-created Silk Road Fund of $40 billion, the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIID) and for projects specific to ASEAN-China, the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund.

The Philippines became a prospective founding member of the AIIB and has until the end of 2015 to sign the Articles of Agreement of the AIIB. Of the 57 countries who are prospective founding members, 50 have signed the agreement.

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While the Philippines, for some reason, is not signing the Articles of Agreement, The Communist Party continues to host visiting women legislators in a people-to-people initiative, with the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China hosting them and taking them to cities and a modernized rural community.

This columnist has been to China three times, the first time in 1971, as part of a 13-woman delegation allowed in the country after the lifting of the Bamboo Curtain. This fourth time, the transformation has been amazing. In the three cities visited by the De Venecia-led legislators and two media persons, including myself, we all thought we were in the West, with skyscrapers dominating the landscape; people no longer wearing Mao shirts, but western clothes with girls wearing short shorts; no more rickshaws but motor vehicles moving in disciplined fashion; the preponderance of Mcdonalds, KFCs and Wall Marts, Seasons and Marriott hotels. In fact hardly seen are signboards in Chinese characters. Two downsides: very few Chinese speak English (despite the fact that tourism is tops in the country development plan agency), and outmoded squat toilet facilities.

Our first stop was at the “city of flowers” (so called because of flowers sprouting all over the place), Guangzhou, considered China’s top economic power house. Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, is in the province of Guandong, China’s most populous province with a population of 107.2 million and leads the total tourism revenue of 2014 in China. A technological wonder is Guangzhou’s Canton Tower, a 600-meter tall multi-purpose observation tower. Its twisted shape or hyperboloid structure takes your breath away. At the top, above 450 m. is an open-air observation deck, TV and radio transmission facilities, observatory decks, revolving restaurants, computer gaming, restaurants, exhibition spaces, conference rooms, shops and 4D cinemas. China Tower is China’s tallest building, and the third tallest in the world.

A cruise on the Pearl River afforded us fascinating panoramas of tall residential and commercial buildings with lights changing colors every minute or so, and whose decks are brightly lit up with solar power, making Guangzhou a green city.

In another city, Foshan, we visited the creative industry park’s training center, a renovated old factory structure where all sorts of artistic trainings are conducted, from ballet to advertising materials, and entrepreneurship. On the street below are shops where trainees have put up their high-quality designs.

South of the Five Ridges was a park consisting of cafes and restos in buildings whose architecture reflects that of the centuries-old dynasties. Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Starbucks and Italian cuisines at nooks and corners – nowhere was a hint of Chow King or any Chinese stop. I asked our guide if Hollywood movies were being shown, and he smiled, “Only Chinese movies.”

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A lunch of mix European-Chinese cuisine at Seasons restaurant, served as a reunion of sorts for a member of the Philippine delegation, Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu City, and the host, who signed a sister-province agreement with then Cebu Gov. Gwen. Learning of the Cebu-Guandong agreement, Chinese leaders asked Gwen if they could be “sisters” too. Agreements were signed with Guangxi Zhuang, Sychuan and Hainan. The agreements promoted Cebu as a tourist destination, resulting in frequent chartered flights to the Queen City of the South. Gwen did what other local executives have not done: sign sister-province agreements with Gangwon and Busan of Korea, the state of Hawaii, Chile, Russia, Slovenia, Israel and Iraq.

(More on the China trip and interesting lady legislators in my next column.)

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Dancing in One Voice premieres at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Sept. 26 and 27. This is the first time the 29-year-old Philippine Ballet Theatre will put together on stage a ballet company and opera stars alongside finalists from the highly acclaimed The Voice Philippines.

Dancing in One Voice was conceptualized by PBT’s co-founder Julie Borromeo and Timmy Pavino, a pop balladeer and former TVP finalists.

The project also gives recognition to quiet, unsung heroes of PBT who continue to support the youth in the performing arts. “We hope our audiences come to appreciate them just as we do,” explains Timmy. Lisa Kircher Lumbao, PBT vice president, shares Timmy and Julie’s excitement. “I love the idea of having finalists from PBT perform onstage with our dancers. This should be fun.”

For tickets, contact CCP Box Office (02) 832-374, Ticket World (02) 891-999 or PBT (02) 632-8848.

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Email: [email protected]