Nais mag-donate ng China ng nasa 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses sa Pilipinas, bilang kabahagi ng pangako ni Chinese President Xi Jinping kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, pahayag ni Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi sa Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) noong Sabado.
Nilagdaan din ng dalawang bansa ang isang grant agreement sa Economic and Technical Cooperation na nagkakahalaga ng P3.72 bilyon na layong pondohan ang livelihood projects, infrastructure facilities at “other projects to be mutually agreed upon by the two governments.”
Inanunsyo ng Chiense foreign minister ang mga nasabing developments kay Foreign Affairs Chief Teodoro Locsin Jr. sa ginanap na bilateral meeting sa parehong araw.
Ayon sa DFA, ito ang ika-7 na grant na ibinigay ng China simula noong 2016.
“This brings the cumulative grant resources received from the Chinese Government to a total of 3.25 billion Chinese yuan, or approximately PHP24.16 (b)illion,” pahayag ng ahensya.
Nagpasalamat naman si Locsin kay Wang sa tulong ng China para sa public health response ng bansa sa pamamagitan ng mga in-kind at equipment donations simula noong pumutok ang pandemiya.
Binigyang diin naman ng Chinese foreign minister ang kahalagahan ng pagsasantabi sa mga hidwaan ng dalawang bansa, dahil nalagpasan aniya ng Pilipinas at China ang “test of the pandemic.”
“(W)e have stood shoulder to shoulder on the way forward to rise up to the challenges. I think it’s fair to say that the China-Philippines relations have withstood the test of the pandemic and learning this process our friendship has been further deepened,” ani Wang, mula sa isang translated transcript ng FDA.
“So standing at this new starting point of 2021, facing challenges beyond COVID-19 it is important for us to make an early plan of our interactions and cooperation for the whole year, shelve differences and build common ground, work closely with each other to firmly move forward along the course, jointly charted by our two presidents, and create more fruitful outcomes for our comprehensive strategic and cooperative relationship, and make more benefits to our two countries and the people of our two countries,” dagdag pa nito.
