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State visit to China a test of Philippine President’s diplomatic acumen
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Marcos Jr will have a long economic wish list for China, in balance with its defence links with the US.
PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING – Days before embarking on his landmark trip to China in 1975, then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Sr convened a Cabinet meeting, during which he lifted briefing papers more than an inch thick to see how heavy they were.
After setting them aside, as a retired diplomat recalled, the President asked out of the blue: Is Chairman Mao Zedong left- or right-handed?
