(Note from MindaNews: This is the official transcript of President Rodrigo Duterte’s speech, released by the Presidential News Desk of the Presidential Communications Office)
Presidential Communications Office
Presidential News Desk
REMARKS
OF
PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
AND
CHINESE PREMIER LI KEQIANG
DURING THE
20TH ASEAN-CHINA SUMMIT
[Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Pasay City | 13 November 2017]
Your Majesties, Your Excellency, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 20th ASEAN-China Summit.
Please allow me to open our meeting with brief remarks.
It is my honor to welcome Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and everyone to this very important meeting.
This Summit provides yet another opportunity for Asia and China to assess the current status and chart the future direction of our strategic partnership.
I look forward to having a fruitful and productive meeting that shall demonstrate our common resolve of mutual understanding toward the realization of our shared goals and aspiration.
I’m also confident that this meeting will pave way to even greater ASEAN-China cooperation as we reach another milestone in 2018, which is the 15th anniversary of the elevation of the ASEAN-China dialogue partnership into a strategic partnership.
At this juncture, I wish to invite His Excellency Premier Li Keqiang to deliver his opening remarks.
Mr. Premier, you have the floor.
PREMIER LI KEQIANG: Your Excellency, President Duterte, dear colleagues.
It is my great pleasure to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Summit.
I want to thank the Philippine government for the efforts made for the Summit. I also want to thank Singapore, the coordinator of China-ASEAN relations and all the other ASEAN countries for the contribution made to China-ASEAN relations.
This year ASEAN celebrates its golden jubilee. 50 years on, ASEAN has traversed momentous journey and made remarkable progress and achievements that taken stock of the journey of the past 50 years.
We can also see what ASEAN will be like 50 years or 20 years or 50 years from today and will be even greater glorious achievements in the decades to come.
Among ASEAN’s dialogue partners, China-ASEAN relations are the most dynamic and the most substantive.
China was the first to accede to the TAC, Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.
It is fair to say that friendly relations between China and ASEAN is a consensus of all ASEAN countries.
We are also the first to establish strategic partnership with ASEAN and the first to launch FTA negotiations with the organization.
China always sees ASEAN as a priority in our neighborhood diplomacy. We are committed to work with ASEAN to the good neighbors, good friends, and good partners that always stand together, rain or shine.
We are also committed to working with ASEAN to build a community of shared future featuring common ideas, common prosperity and a common responsibility.
That is my brief opening remarks.
Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Thank you, Your Excellency. And may I now address myself to our friends.
I’m sorry. For the common statement of the ASEAN. [Mic please.]
[Thank you, Mr. Chairman. May I ask the…]
[The press.]
PRESIDENT DUTERTE: To interrupt you a little bit. As usual, after the open session, we require all our friends from the media to go out.
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