Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos gestures as he listens to questions from a reporter during a press conference before his flight to Hong Kong at Manila's International Airport. "Please do not make any mistake. I am not going there to negotiate. That belongs to the officials," he was quoted as saying. "My mission is to rekindle ties with China." Ramos is going to Hong Kong to play a few rounds of golf with his Chinese friends hoping to restore the shine in Philippine – China ties.
As a special envoy of Philippines, Ramos, who described his role as "an icebreaker", said that he had no authority to negotiate but expected that the formal phase of bilateral talks will take place "in the near future" between Philippine and Chinese officials. The Duterte administration is trying to repair ties with China which got worse when the Philippines got the side of the international arbitration to contest Beijing’s nine dash line claim in the West Philippine Sea. It was a ruling that further angered China as they threatened to assert their presence more in the disputed waters. Ramos, an avid golfer himself, has been visiting Hong Kong and China in the past to play golf in some their world class golf courses.
The Palace is optimistic that his visit to would lead to better friendship between China and the Philippines. Ramos has been expressing openness to engaging China in bilateral talks without using the arbitral ruling as the kick-off topic. He said, “If it’s alright, we take out the arbitral judgement from the talks.” Meanwhile, Ramos reiterated that his travel to Hong Kong has nothing to do with government functions but just to play golf with his friends. “I am not authorized at this moment to negotiate” he said prior to his departure on PAL together with his wife Ming Ramos.