Aquino names unknown envoy to China

President Benigno Aquino III has appointed an ambassador to China even as the government plans to bring reported Chinese intrusions into Philippine territory to the attention of the United Nations.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) has confirmed that Domingo Lee has been appointed to Beijing.

But Malacañang could not immediately provide any background information on Lee. Valte said she had no resume on Lee while repeated text messages to officers at the OES yielded no reply.

Reacting to a newspaper report that some diplomats had expressed doubts about Lee measuring up to the task due to his lack of experience in the foreign service, Valte said Mr. Aquino has always appointed people that he was confident about and who were competent.

“For every appointment that is made by the President, we always said that the appointment was based on trust and the competence and capability of the appointee,” Valte said over government radio dzRB. “That being said, I think it would be more prudent if we would wait for the person to do his job before we make any judgment based on his capability rather than having a comment just because we heard the name.”

Valte added that a venue was available for those with concerns about an appointee’s qualifications. “And that would be the Commission on Appointments,” she said.

Reports say that Lee, who will be replacing Francisco Benedicto, is a family friend of the Aquinos.

Asked if the President might have chosen a more capable person to head the embassy in Beijing, Valte said, “We would not wish to question the President’s judgment on this.”

“He is the appointing power. He’s the one that sees what is not commonly known. It’s the President who really sees the broad spectrum of things and, given that point of view, he’s in a position to say who would be more of a good fit for that post,” Valte said.

Mr. Aquino plans to visit China this year amid complications in the relations between Manila and Beijing due to reports of Chinese incursions into Philippine territory in the western side of the country.

In Brunei recently, Mr. Aquino told reporters that the government was preparing to present to the UN the alleged incidents of Chinese intrusion into Philippine territory.