Imelda Marcos, the peacemaker?

A dear friend: A file photo from Sept 27, 1974, showing Mao meeting Imelda. — Photo taken from social media

For all her surfeit of shoes, former Philippine first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos is fondly remembered by millions of Chinese as an ultimate diplomat who captivated the late chairman Mao Zedong and what was then an isolated and impoverished nation with her beauty, charm and elegance when she visited in 1974.

Accompanied by her only son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the incumbent president of the Philippines, the 10-day historic trip produced the iconic photo of Mao kissing her hand and paved the way for the normalisation of bilateral relations the following year.