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WORLD NEWSThursday 28 January 2016
Philippines President Benigno Aquino III, right, greets visiting Japanese Emperor Akihito before a Vietnam’s Communist party boss is
start of their meeting inside the presidential palace in Manila, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. re-elected, cements hold on power
(Romeo Ranoco/Pool Photo via AP) VIJAY JOSHI
Associated Press
Philippine leader welcomes Japan’s emperor HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam’s Communist Party
Wednesday re-elected its 71-year-old chief for a
JIM GOMEZ cussed robust sales of “This is something we Jap- second term, an expected outcome that sees the
TERESA CEROJANO Japanese-made cars that anese must never forget conservative pro-China ideologue cementing his
Associated Press have contributed to Ma- and we intend to keep hold on power.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) nila’s heavy traffic and the this engraved in our hearts The party’s congress elected Nguyen Phu Trong
— Philippine President Be- entry of Japanese retail throughout our visit,” Aki- (pronounced Noo-yen Foo Chong) to a 19-member
nigno Aquino III gave a store Uniqlo, presidential hito said, expressing hope Politburo, the all-powerful body that handles the
red-carpet welcome to Ja- spokesman Herminio Co- that his trip will help deep- day-to-day affairs of the government and the party.
pan’s emperor Wednesday loma Jr. said. en Japanese ties with the In a subsequent vote, he was immediately chosen as
in a sign of blossoming ties Akihito, a revered symbol of Philippines. the general-secretary, the de facto No. 1 leader of
between the two nations, Japanese unity who plays Aquino said the emperor the country.
both mired in territorial dis- no political role in his coun- was apprehensive when, as The announcement was made on the official
putes with China, while fur- try, did not discuss conten- crown prince, he first visited Vietnam News Agency’s website.
ther moving past painful tious security issues such as the Philippines in 1962 be- Officials said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan
memories of Japan’s World the territorial disputes or cause of what happened Phuc was also elected to the Politburo, and he is
War II aggression. demands for an apology during Japan’s wartime now expected to become the prime minister. He
Aquino and Emperor Aki- by Filipino women who ac- occupation of the coun- will replace Nguyen Tan Dung, who had had led
hito held talks at Manila’s cuse Japan’s wartime army try. But Akihito’s anxieties economic reforms over the last 10 years and had
Malacanang presidential of forcing them into sexual eased then because of the harbored ambitions for the top job. His challenge,
palace, where Philippine slavery, according to the warm Philippine reception however, was snuffed by Trong’s supporters during
and Japanese flags were emperor’s press secretary, he and his wife received, the weeklong party congress that ends Thursday.
displayed side by side and Hatsuhisa Takashima. he said. The third most important member elected to the
Filipino troops fired can- At the state banquet, the “I am held in awe, recogniz- Politburo was Minister of Public Security Tran Dai
nons in a traditional salute. emperor recalled the fierce ing the burdens you have Quang, who will be the country’s new president, said
Aquino later hosted a state battles between Japanese borne, as you have had to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity
banquet for Akihito, whose and American forces in the live with the weight of the because they were not authorized to speak to the
visit marks 60 years of dip- Philippines that resulted “in decisions made by others media.
lomatic relations between the loss of many Filipino during the dark episodes in The general secretary, the prime minister and the
the two nations. lives” and left many others the history of our nations,” president, along with the chairman of the National
Aquino and Akihito dis- injured. Aquino said.q Assembly, are the four key members in the collective
leadership represented by the Politburo, and the
180-member Central Committee, which handles
policy. The renewal of the leadership means little
change for Vietnam.
Trong is expected to continue to push Dung’s
economic reforms. Despite having a reputation
for being pro-China he is not likely to be totally
subservient to Beijing as that would risk massive anger
from ordinary Vietnamese who harbor a deep dislike
and historical suspicion of China.
“Many people were afraid that a conservative
trend would prevail if Mr. Trong is re-elected. But ...
whoever they may be, and however conservative
they may be, when they are at the helm they are
under pressure to carry out reforms,” Le Hong Hiep, a
visiting Vietnamese fellow at the Institute of Southeast
Asia Studies in Singapore, told The Associated Press.
The Communist Party is entitled by the constitution
to govern and Vietnam’s 93 million people have no
direct role in electing the leaders of the 4.5 million-
member party.q
