Eric Baculinao speaks before Ethnic Press Council

Eric Baculinao speaks before Ethnic Press Council

By Mila Astorga-Garcia

Eric Baculinao, Beijing Bureau Chief of NBC News, spoke before the officers and members of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada on January 9 at the City of Toronto’s Council Chambers.

Speaking before an audience of publishers and journalists from at least 30 different ethnic media organizations, Baculinao discussed China’s economic strategy and answered questions from the audience.

Among the topics he discussed was the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea. Baculinao said that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinpin met and discussed the matter. Although both assert that they have a legitimate claim over the area, what has changed in the situation from the previous Philippine administration is that both parties agree to discuss the issue diplomatically.

Baculinao fields questions from members of the Ethnic Press Council at Toronto City Council Chambers. (Photo: Polat Yapicilar)

Baculinao also discussed China’s strategy to deal with its internal economic problems and dismissed the idea that it wants to replace the U.S. as a global power. He emphasized that China has a lot of economic problems to solve at the moment.

Responding to a question as to whether China was willing to engage the U.S. in an armed conflict, Baculinao said that China’s interest is to deal with its present economic situation – there is yet a lot of poverty, its per capita income is much below the U.S. and there are yet a lot of economic issues to deal with. However, should China be forced into a conflict on such sovereignty issues as Taiwan and the South China Sea, it is willing and ready to defend its interest, and China believes it has the ability to do so.

Another question was whether China was dealing with the issue of harvesting of organs which has been the object of criticism by advocates the world over, including Toronto. Baculinao said that China is aware of the problem and only recently passed a law legislating against the practice. He said China is a huge country and sometimes even with a law, implementation is such a big problem.

Baculinao also mentioned the continued ability of the Chinese people to assert their power when their interest is at stake. He cited a case of a Petro-chemical plant that was being planned for a certain area. However, there were the loud and consistent protests rallies of the residents against the plant which would create environmental and other problems for them. Hence, even with the logistics and funding already in place, the plan to put up the plant, which was originally supported by the government, was halted. This Baculinao attributed to the power of the people and what he claimed to be the practice of the Chinese Communist Party to listen to the people.