SHOW OF FORCE. Military parade during 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China in Beijing on Oct. 1, Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Xinhuanet.com)
BEIJING – Nearly 70 Filipino-Chinese are invited by the Chinese government to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of China in Beijing Tuesday.
Tycoon Francis Chua and his wife Tanzania Honorary Consul Betty Ang, as well as former chair of Commission on Information and Communications Technology Ivan John Enrile Uy were among the Filipino-Chinese attending China’s 70th anniversary.
In an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Chua said the Philippines has the largest delegation of overseas-based Chinese to attend the founding anniversary of China, most of them are businessmen.
The Chinese government also invited media practitioners from Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America to witness the celebration.
China has been long preparing for its biggest holiday this year.
According to the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, more than 100,000 citizens were attending the mass pageantry and around 60,000 were invited to attend the evening gala Tuesday. Some 30,000 people also observed the gathering and military parade.
The mass pageantry and military parade lasted around two hours and 40 minutes
Chinese President Xi Jinping led the opening of the National Day parade.
Marking its founding anniversary celebration, the Chinese government has launched a number of events and projects early this year. The latest and one of the biggest projects is the new Beijing Daxing International Airport that was inaugurated last Sept. 25.
Giving back to the motherland
Chua said Chinese citizens who left China before for overseas employment had helped in the development of their country in the past decades.
He said like overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Chinese all over the world were able to support the Chinese economy through remittances and investments.
“They go out, they got employed, and they remit money – they send it home. And little by little they become businessmen; they become richer, tycoon, and all these things. So they started to invest in China,” said Chua. “That's the way how you could repay to your motherland.”
“Remember when the Chinese economy was down and out, it's these Chinese who bring back the technology and the money,” he added.
Learning from China
Chua said the Philippines can learn from China in terms of economic development as he encouraged OFWs to save money and invest it back in the Philippines, like many Chinese from different parts of the world have done in the past.
He added that the Philippine government should not just look at the progress made by its giant neighbor but should take steps to achieve the same development at a faster pace.
On the other hand, Chua said the new Chinese generation must learn the hospitality of Filipinos.
“For the new generation of Chinese, go to the Philippines. I will suggest that they try to learn, as much as possible, the hospitality of the Filipino, the service attitude of the Filipino. And don't just think of making money, but try to invest to have more goodwill and friendship,” said Chua. (PNA)
