by Liu Chang
BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is now in Beijing to warm up his country's ice-cold ties with China. The move has nothing to do with Manila's traditional alliance with Washington.
As Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out red carpet to welcome his Philippine counterpart on Thursday morning, many around the world were predicting that the Southeast Asian nation was getting ready to pivot away from the United States, its traditional ally.
Some even said that Beijing would receive handsome gains if the Philippine-U.S. alliance truly gets weakened These observers are wrong although they think they have proofs as the new leader in Manila has been an open and fierce U.S. critic and threatened to cancel his country's joint military drills with U.S. armed forces.
The Chinese government never attempts to build up its ties with other countries on condition that these nations have to sacrifice their partnership with any third party.
To be more specific, the most important thing Beijing seeks to get from a sound bilateral relationship with the Philippines is that the two sides can work together to strengthen their economic and trade cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit as well as respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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