Sending envoys 'an act of sincerity'

The decision by the Philippines to appoint two special envoys to Beijing on Wednesday, given that country has had no ambassador to China for more than a year, reflects Manila's desire to control the fallout in its relations with Beijing, an expert on Filipino studies has said.

The move forms a sharp contrast with the Philippines' former stance in unilaterally suspending its diplomatic dialogue with China for two weeks.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino III designated two special envoys to China, the presidential palace, announced on Wednesday.

One of the envoys is former Philippines Ambassador-designate to China Domingo Lee. The other is Cesar Zalamea, chairman and chief executive officer of Focus Range International Ltd.

Aquino, who is in the process of selecting a new ambassador to China, signed the appointment papers on May 10 for a term of six months, the palace said.

The palace said Lee will "closely coordinate with, and provide regular feedback on, initiatives undertaken" to the Philippine ambassador to China and the Department of Foreign Affairs assistant secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs.

He will submit regular reports to the Foreign Affairs Secretary on his official duties and perform other duties to enhance Philippines-China relations as may be assigned to him by the president or the secretary of foreign affairs.

As the special envoy for investments, Zalamea is tasked to "aggressively encourage more Chinese investors to locate and set up in the Philippines in preferred areas of investment as well as new and emerging areas for growth".

He will "actively seek out and sign up potential Chinese investors who will take part in the financing, construction and running of key infrastructure projects under the Philippines Public-Private Partnership scheme".

Unless authorized by the president, through the secretary of foreign affairs, the special envoys shall not commit or oblige the Philippine government, the palace said.

The appointments came as the recent dispute between the Philippines and China over Huangyan Island began to hamper trade and diplomatic ties between the two.

"The Philippines has realized the empty position of its ambassador to China has affected relations, especially in the recent crisis raised by the territorial dispute over Huangyan Island," said Chen Qinghong, a researcher on Filipino studies with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

"So now Manila is trying to change the situation, expecting to keep the crisis under control."

However, Chen said there is no signal that Manila has changed its long-term stance on the dispute over the island and is still expecting to maximize its interests through its handling of the issue.