First Lady, Chinese envoy Jing Quan mingle at Lang Lang concert
MANILA, Philippines — While Philippine officials have been busy trading barbs with Chinese officials defending the country’s rights and sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea, the First Lady was caught exchanging smiles with Beijing’s envoy in Manila.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Sunday shared a photo of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan.
“Pleasant talk with the First Lady,” the embassy posted on its Facebook page.
The two were spotted briefly chatting and exchanging smiles during their encounter.
The First Lady on her Instagram and Facebook accounts gave more context on their cordial meetup: both have attended the concerto of world-renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang in Makati City on Saturday.
“What a treat to see Lang Lang live in Manila,” Araneta-Marcos said. “A beautiful evening of music, mastery and shared moments with so many who came simply to listen and feel his magic.”
It was Lang Lang’s first concert in the Philippines.
Based on TicketWorld’s rates, ticket prices to attend the one-night concert start from P6,180 to P25,750 for the most premium seats at the Proscenium Theater in Rockwell.
Lang Lang is best known for his renditions of songs by Beethoven, Chopin, and other classical music masters, having performed with major orchestras and at many leading concert halls around the world.
The 43-year-old pianist has performed for a number of world leaders, including former US President Barack Obama, the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles of the United Kingdom, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He has also played with other artists such as Coldplay, Nicole Scherzinger, Pharrell Williams, Hans Zimmer, Psy, Metallica, Andrea Bocelli.
The warm and friendly encounter between Jang and the First Lady happened just as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected calls to declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata over the escalating word war between the diplomat and some Philippine officials and legislators on the dispute in the West Philippine Sea, part of the South China Sea that is within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
This developed as Manila and Beijing resumed formal bilateral talks on maritime concerns and other areas of mutual interest, as part of the Philippines’ hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meetings this year.
READ: Marcos against calling China envoy ‘persona non grata’–spox
Last week, 15 senators signed a resolution introduced by Sen. Risa Hontiveros expressing the chamber’s disapproval of Jing’s recent public statements for being contrary to “principles of mutual respect and noninterference” among nations.
In Cebu, after a one-year pause, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs met on the sidelines of the Philippine-chaired foreign ministers meeting of the Asean.
The meeting continued talks on the adoption of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea, the long-sought framework designed to manage disputes and avert armed encounters in the strategic, resource-rich waterway.
In a speech in January, Jing, who assumed the Manila posting in December, expressed a commitment to fast-track the negotiations on the COC this year.
President Marcos said he would use the Philippines’ chairship of the Asean this year to push for the conclusion of the negotiations for the COC.
For Marcos, the CoC would make things “a bit easier” for countries around the South China Sea by preventing claimant countries from doing coercive and provocative acts, which could result in serious tensions.
Apart from the Philippines and China, other Asean members Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims over the South China Sea. /cb
