Philippines president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr says his country's ties with China will expand and "shift to a higher gear" when he takes power, signalling an intent to advance outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte's pro-Beijing agenda.
Mr Marcos, who won last week's election by a landslide, said he held "very substantial" talks by phone on Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who assured him of support for his "independent foreign policy", and agreed to hold more comprehensive discussions.
The 64-year-old son and namesake of the notorious former Philippines dictator said Mr Xi also acknowledged his late father's role in opening diplomatic relations between the two countries.
"The way forward is to expand our relationship not only diplomatic, not only trade, but also in culture, even in education, even in knowledge, even in health to address whatever minor disagreements that we have right now," Mr Marcos said in a statement.
"I told him, we must not allow what conflicts or difficulties we have now between our two countries to become historically important."
Mr Marcos has been in Melbourne this week, reportedly to help his youngest son settle into the University of Melbourne, where he is enrolled to study.
Several members of the Australian Filipino community on Tuesday protested outside the accommodation where Mr Marcos was believed to be staying.
A spokesman said the president-elect would fly back to Manila on Thursday.
The Philippines and China have had a rocky relationship in recent years over Beijing's vast territorial claims and actions of its coast guard and fishing fleets in the South China Sea, through which at least $4.84 trillion of annual trade passes.
Their phone conversation focused on bilateral ties and regional development, the Chinese embassy in Manila said in a separate statement.
"President Xi said the two countries should also grasp the general trend, write a grand story on the China-Philippines friendship in the new era and follow through the blueprint for bilateral friendly cooperation, so as to usher in an even brighter future for the bilateral ties," the embassy said.
Mr Marcos won the presidency with nearly 59 per cent of the votes last week. He will take office late in June.
Many analysts expect Marcos to seek stronger ties with Beijing, but say maintaining close relations with defence ally Washington will be essential in keeping the military and the public onside in a country with historically strong links to the United States.
China was among the first to congratulate Marcos, who was the first to win a presidential election by an outright majority since a 1986 revolution that toppled his late father's two-decade dictatorship.
Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, last week said the US would seek early engagement with the Marcos administration but said there were "historical considerations" that could pose challenges.
Mr Marcos said Mr Xi had expressed a desire to talk privately.
"We are both looking forward to having further dialogue," Mr Marcos said.
"He said both of us should talk, without the others."
Reuters
