China debt trap fears ‘groundless,’ says Chinese envoy

China has no ulterior motive in granting loans to the Philippines and providing other forms of "cooperation" to the country, a Chinese official said Tuesday.

"One thing I would like to emphasize here is that China has no hidden agenda or strings attached to the cooperation and support for the Philippines," Chargé D'affaires Ad Interim Tan Qingsheng said during his speech at the Boao Forum for Asia in Manila.

"The so-called 'China debt trap' accusation is completely groundless," he added.

The Chinese Embassy official said that according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the loans from China only account for 0.65 percent of the country’s total debt.

Tan added that the interest rates for the loans are similar or even less than those of other countries.

He also claimed that the economic cooperation between the two countries will generate more jobs for Filipinos.

"According to latest statistics, about 50 large-scale Chinese companies based in the Philippines have employed more than 16,000 Filipinos so far, and the number is expected to increase in the coming years," Tan said.

An inter-agency task force recently found that over 56,000 Chinese workers are employed in Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) in the country, while thousands are also employed in other industries in the Philippines, including construction.

'China wages no war'

Tan also claimed that China has been able to lift more than 700 million people across the globe out of poverty in the past 40 years.

He also said that China is committed to peace and stability and has not attacked other countries, unlike "the other big power."

"Research has shown that in the past four decades, China has never waged any war against any other country, we have never toppled any government or bombarded any other country," Tan said.

According to a Reuters report, China showed off the first of its new generation of guided missile destroyers on Tuesday during the celebration of its navy's 70th anniversary, as China ramps up its presence in the disputed South China Sea and around self-ruled Taiwan.

China claims nearly the whole of the South China Sea, including some areas within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. The present administration, however, has the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling in 2016 which voided China's claims in the disputed waters.

Nonetheless, President Rodrigo Duterte recently criticized China for constructing facilities in the disputed islands while the Philippine case against Beijing was heard by the international arbitral court.

From January to March this year, 275 Chinese vessels were spotted by the military near the Manila-occupied Pag-asa Island. This prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs to file a diplomatic protest.

China's Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua denied that the Chinese in the area were armed.

Meanwhile, despite the involvement of the two countries in the South China Sea claims issue, Tan said that that "China-Philippines relations have entered a golden age."

He said China looks forward to Duterte's scheduled visit for the Belt and Road Forum this month.

"We have every reason to believe that this visit will not only strengthen the synergies between the Belt and Road initiative and the Build, Build, Build program, but also upgrade our bilateral cooperation to a new high," Tan said. — BM, GMA News