Cablegate: President Arroyo's Upcoming Travel to China

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TAGS: PREL CH KN RP
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT ARROYO'S UPCOMING TRAVEL TO CHINA

1. This is an action message -- see para 4.

2. (SBU) President Arroyo plans to attend the Association
of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Commemorative
Summit on October 30-31 in Nanning, China. The Summit will
celebrate 15 years of association between ASEAN and the
People's Republic of China. According to Daniel Espiritu,
Director of the China and North Asia Division of the
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, President Arroyo
also intends to make "social calls" on prominent business
leaders in Fujian, homeland of most of the Sino-Filipino
community, but he described these travel plans as
"unofficial" and "not foreign affairs matters."

3. (SBU) Separately, Daniel Laogan, a prominent
Sino-Filipino businessman and legal counsel for the powerful
San Miguel Corporation, complained that his peers are mostly
unsatisfied with the profitability of their investments in
China, blaming corrupt Chinese municipal and provincial
officials. President Arroyo's "social calls," stated Laogan,
are designed to fortify the position of these business
interests vis-a-vis "predatory" Chinese officials. Laogan
indicated that President Arroyo will travel to Xiamen on
October 27, prior to the Summit.

4. (SBU) Comment and Action Request: President Arroyo's
visit represents an opportunity for her to raise points of
mutual interest to the U.S. and the Philippines with her
Chinese interlocutors and other ASEAN leaders at the Summit,
including possible North Korea. Please advise if we have any
desired talking points to convey to her before this travel
and the Summit.
KENNEY

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