Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen：

Good evening! Thank you very much for being with us at the reception tonight.

I feel honored to be appointed the Ambassador to the Philippines. It is just a one month since I came here, yet I have already made a lot of friends, and the warm hospitality that I received from both the Philippine Government and its people has made me feel very much at home.

To most of the Chinese people, the Philippines is a beautiful country on the other side of the ocean, known as “nation of thousands of islands”. The exchanges between our two countries started as early as one thousand and seven hundred year ago. In the annuals of history, the vast South China Sea never blocked the contacts and connections between our two countries, but served as a bridge linking our two peoples together. For centuries, many Chinese and Filipino Chinese lived in harmony and amity with the local people, enduring hardship and sharing happiness together, in joint effort to achieve common development. Their important contributions to the economic and social development of the Philippines have won them wide recognition and appreciation of the society. Looking back in history, we can see that China and the Philippines have much in common. In the past, our two peoples made unremitting efforts for national independence, our countries have overcome various difficulties and challenges in the road ahead, made relentless efforts in finding a development path suited to our national conditions and attained remarkable achievements. In brief, China and the Philippines are close in geographical location and inseparable in culture and ethnic origins.

In 1975, the Republic of the Philippines was the first Southeast Asian country that established diplomatic relations with China. Since then, 29 years has passed. Thanks for the joint efforts of our two Governments, Sino-Philippine relations have maintained stable development along the right track. At present, our bilateral relations have already entered a new stage of comprehensive development, marking the best period in our history. Our leaders have reached a large measure of consensus on developing bilateral relations between our two countries and established the Framework of Bilateral Cooperation Oriented toward the 21st Century. In recent years, we have witnessed a stable development of political relations between China and the Philippines. There was a frequent exchange of high-level visits during the past years. And there were dialogues and cooperation at different levels between our two Governments. The economic and trade cooperation between us scored new heights. In the past three years, the bilateral trade volume tripled, reaching nearly US$10 billion with more than US$3 billion in favor of the Philippine side. The North Rail Project is the largest Chinese infrastructure investment project in Southeast Asia. The successful cooperation between China and the Philippines in cultivating hybrid rice benefits many local farmers and is of great significance to obtaining food security in this country. Furthermore, the exchanges and cooperation between our two countries in the fields of culture, military and science and technology have also strengthened. Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines. Confucius said, “A man became firmly established at the age of thirty”. In China, the age of thirty means maturity, enthusiasm and vitality. It is my firm belief that, with our joint efforts in further exploring and deepening our cooperation in the fields of energy, forestry, paper industry and tourism etc, we’ll be able to bring Sino-Philippine bilateral relations to a higher stage of development.

I’m grateful to my predecessor Ambassador Wang Chungui and my colleagues at the Embassy for the substantial works they have done in promoting Sino-Philippine friendly relations. On this occasion, I am regretful to inform you that Sr. Col Zhang Yuhe, Defense and Armed Forces Attaché of the Embassy is leaving us in a few days. During his tenure here, Sr. Col Zhang has made active contributions to the promotion of military exchanges between our two countries. I wish him good health and success in his future assignment. At the same time, I am pleased to introduce to you Sr. Col Yang Haisheng, our new Defense and Armed Forces Attaché, who is a very experienced officer. He worked in the Chinese Embassy in India for many years and joined the UN peacekeeping operations in Western Sahara and Mozambique. Let’s warmly welcome him.

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

Having been involved in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan affairs for years, I might have more personal experience and knowledge about the Taiwan issue. “Peaceful reunification” and “One country, two systems” are the consistent policies of the Chinese Government in addressing the Taiwan issue, and reflect the common aspiration of all the Chinese people throughout the world, including the Taiwan compatriots. There is only but one China in the world. This is commonly recognized by the United Nations and the international community. The election in the Taiwan region is a local election in China. Whatever its outcome, it will, in no way, change the fact of Taiwan being a part of the Chinese territory. The Chinese Government will seek with utmost sincerity a peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue. However, we shall never tolerate anyone carrying out any form of separatist activities for “Taiwan Independence”. The Chinese people have the determination and capability to realize the great cause of national reunification. I’d like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to the Philippine Government and its people, as well as the overseas Chinese compatriots for their consistent adherence to the “One China” policy and their valuable support for China’s great cause of reunification.

Mankind is facing both new opportunities and challenges in the new century. As a large and responsible country, China shall continue to pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and policy of developing good neighborly relations. China shall continue to cooperate harmoniously with our Asian friends so as to play a positive and constructive role in the common development and progress of Asia.

May I invite you to join me in a toast:

To the prosperity of the Philippines and China,

To the continuous development of friendly relations and cooperation between our two countries,

To the health of our distinguished guests present here,

Cheers! Mabuhay!