China keeps hands off Hong Kong travel warning
By Jill Beltran
Thursday, August 25, 2011
MANILA — China will not ask the Hong Kong government to lift its black travel warning against the Philippines as a consequence of the Manila hostage crisis in August last year.
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao said Wednesday that China won’t meddle in the issue since Hong Kong exercises a “high level of autonomy” that China respects and obey.
“Since 1997, according to the basic law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong has been exercising a high level of autonomy, so we respect the decision made by the Hong Kong authorities,” he told reporters.
Days before the marking of the first anniversary of the Manila hostage crisis, the Hong Kong government extended the travel advisory on the Philippines, warning its citizens against traveling in the country.
Eight Hong Kong tourists were killed during an 11-hour hostage crisis perpetrated by a dismissed Filipino policeman at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on August 23, 2010.
Capability
The capability of the Manila authorities was put to question due to the bungled hostage rescue.
Liu said China respects the decisions made by Hong Kong “upon their evaluation of the actual security situation” in the Philippines.
He, meanwhile, hoped that the “normal exchange of people” in Hong Kong and in the Philippines will eventually resume.
“We hope that the dialogue will continue so that both sides will be convinced that it is the right time to lift the alert so that normal exchange of people between Hong Kong and the Philippines will resume soon,” he said.
Seeing the reforms the government has been doing in its security measures, he said the Chinese Government does not find the travel warning necessary.
Dangerous
However, he admitted that there are some areas in the Philippines still considered as dangerous, which China warns its citizens of traveling.
On the other hand, Liu refused to give a categorical statement on the refusal of President Benigno Aquino III to apologize to the families of the victims of the hostage-taking incident.
He then appreciated the move of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to meet with a survivor and families of the victims when they visited the country to commemorate the first anniversary of the tragedy.
President Aquino earlier said that he regrets what happened during the hostage-taking but he will not heed the demand of the victims to issue another apology.
The victims’ families reiterated Tuesday their demands for a formal apology and financial compensation from the Philippine government.
Aquino said, however, that formal apology has already been issued during the day of the incident.
He also said that the tragedy should not be blamed on the entire Filipino race since it was a mistake of only one person.
De Lima, for her part, met with the families of the hostage victims last Tuesday, but she admitted Wednesday that she is not keen on prosecuting those involved in the bungled rescue operation, as requested by the victims’ relatives.
She said it would be “foolhardy” to advise President Aquino to reinstate the findings of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC), a body that conducted hearings to determine the possible administrative and criminal liabilities of persons who figured in the 11-hour standoff at Quirino Grandstand in Manila.
The Justice chief said that as the IIRC has ceased to exist and its recommendations have already gone through a thorough review by the two-man executive panel, she is in no position to question the wisdom of it.
“Such recommendations have been passed upon already by the presidential team tasked to review the IIRC report and acted upon by the President. It would be foolhardy on our part to so insist as it would be out of line,” said De Lima, who is expected to submit to the President her report on her dialogue with the Hong Kong delegation next week.
The presidential review team exonerated from liability some persons perceived to be close to the President, among them Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.
This move is seen as a setback, considering that this was one of the four demands of the Hong Kong delegation when they visited Manila to commemorate the incident and to appeal for justice to the Philippine government.
But de Lima suggested to the Hong Kong delegation to formally submit its request to the President as she promised only to relay them to him.
As to the issue on compensation, the Justice secretary said she is inclined to recommend to the President a favorable response to the victims since under Philippine law, anyone has the right to seek redress by way of damages. (With ECV/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/08/25/china-keeps-hands-hong-kong-travel-warning-175173
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