- Over the past four years, China has been the Philippines’ top partner for bilateral investments, exports, and imports across all crucial priority sectors.
- Grants from China are funding major infrastructure projects like bridges, irrigation, railways, and roads.
- The most challenging concern between the two countries is the West Philippine Sea issue.
- Chinese Ambassador: ‘The South China Sea issue should be a stepping stone, not a roadblock, to the development of China-Philippines relations.’
- PH Ambassador: ‘It would be a wise choice to continue the path of engagement with China on the basis of friendly cooperation and mutual benefit while, at the same time, ensuring our independence and our national sovereignty and sovereign rights.’
While referring to the past six years as a “good momentum” for their relationship, the Philippines and China agreed that there is more room for growth in the ties that bind the two neighbors.
In a webinar hosted by the Philippine Association of Chinese Studies (PACS), Philippine Ambassador to China Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana said there are still many things that can be improved in the country’s relationship with China. From trade to grants for infrastructure development, from maritime issues to “the blessing of having a good neighbor,” both ambassadors discussed how their countries plan to move forward after the new administration takes over after the May elections.
Economy
“There is still much room for growth and our economic managers in the country are working tirelessly to secure more investments from China,” he said.
Over the past four years, China has been the Philippines’ top partner for bilateral investments, exports, and imports across all crucial priority sectors. The top traded products are electronics, machinery, minerals, and food.
Philippine products exported to China are integrated circuits, nickel ores and concentrates, semiconductor devices, copper cathodes, and storage units.
Top imports from China are inputs for the manufacture of semiconductor devices, petroleum oils, computer parts and accessories, integrated circuits, and light petroleum oil.
In terms of investment, China, in 2020, was the largest global direct investor for the first time in history. The following year, China became the Philippines’ second-biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI).
In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China is currently ranked as the fourth-biggest source of FDI with the Philippines receiving only around six percent of China’s investments in the regional bloc.
Many grant aids from China built the following:
- Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella Pantaleon Bridges
- Davao River (Bucana) and Davao-Samal Bridges
- Funding for feasibility studies of other key infrastructure projects
- Road and bridge projects and construction equipment for the Marawi rehabilitation
Meanwhile, infrastructure funded by loans from China include the:
- Chico River Irrigation
- Kaliwa Reservoir Dam
- PNR South Railway
- Clark-Subic Railway
- First Phase of the Mindanao Railway
Tourism
In the tourism industry, China was the second-largest source of tourists from 2016 to 2019, second only to South Korea.
Source of vaccines
Sta. Romana said China is the Philippines’s biggest source of Covid-19 vaccines with around 56 million doses, over 51 million of which were procured by the Philippine government.
He said the provision of the much-needed vaccines not only jumpstarted the country’s economic recovery but the revitalization of the country itself.
West Philippine Sea
The most challenging concern between the two countries, Sta. Romana said, remains to be the West Philippine Sea issue.
“The two countries regarded that the issue should not undermine a thriving relationship that is vital to their mutual interest,” he said.
“We do not regard these differences as the sum total of the Philippine-China relations and we seek to manage, if not resolve, our differences through bilateral diplomacy and through the peaceful management of our differences,” he added.
In an attempt to resolve the issue, the Philippines and China established the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea. Sta. Romana said the discussions in these sessions “have been frank, candid, in-depth, but friendly in manner.”
The two countries are still in talks about a possible joint exploration in the disputed waters.
A stepping stone, not a roadblock
In the same forum, the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said China will continue having talks with the country on this issue, adding that while it is natural to have differences, it is important that such issues are handled properly.
He said the sea dispute should not hinder the development of the relationship between the Philippines and China.
“The South China Sea issue should be a stepping stone, not a roadblock, to the development of China-Philippines relations,” Huang said.
“China will absolutely not bully some other countries. We never believe in the winner-takes-all philosophy. We’re willing to work with the Philippines with mutual respect and pragmatism,” he added.
Huang added that China has always pursued harmony and coexistence and that this has always been embedded in the genes of the Chinese people.
“The history of Chinese culture that lasts 5,000 years clearly demonstrates that China follows the path of peaceful development and will not bully anyone,” he said.
Ways to move forward
In moving forward with its relationship with China after the Duterte administration, Ambassador Sta. Romana cited the need for the Philippines to strengthen its sense of maritime identity.
To do this, he said it is vital for the Philippines to defend its sovereignty and patrimony in the West Philippine Sea and maintain its freedom of action as a sovereign nation.
The Philippines is the second-biggest archipelago in the world after Indonesia and has the fifth-biggest longest coastline in the world.
Fifty-five percent of the Philippines’ 1,490 municipalities are located along the coasts of the Philippine archipelago and at least five million Filipinos depend on the country’s waters for livelihood.
Sta. Romana also said the Philippines must understand China and its foreign policy, particularly President Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” which aims for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation while pursuing development and cooperation with other countries.
Despite this, the Philippine envoy said that the Philippines should continue advancing its interests and that it should continue engaging with China and take advantage of the momentum of good relations.
“Navigating a complicated relationship with a major neighbor like China requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach. It is not advisable for us to stop engaging with China, much less embark on a path of confrontation,” he said.
“It would be a wise choice to continue the path of engagement with China on the basis of friendly cooperation and mutual benefit while, at the same time, ensuring our independence and our national sovereignty and sovereign rights,” he added.
The country must also find commonality amid the differences and “find synergy” in its respective flagship programs for infrastructure development.
“Only then can we give our economy a much-needed boost, especially after the ,” Sta. Romana said.
More importantly, he said the Philippines should take a long-term strategic view and stop thinking as far as six years only.
“We must remember that it is the strategic option for the Philippines to engage China in a way that is mutually beneficial,” Sta. Romana said.
“We should have, as a nation, a long-term strategic perspective in this arena. Time and patience are, in a sense, the best weapons, if not the best soldiers,” he added.
‘PH is a good neighbor’
In the forum, Ambassador Huang referred to the Philippines as a “good neighbor” confirming that relationship with a comment on having a good neighbor is a “good blessing.”
“Close neighbors are better than distant relatives. friendly relations have persisted for thousands of years,” Huang said.
The bilateral relationship of the Philippines and China is facing a “new historical starting point,” Ambassador Huang said, noting the coming elections in May.
He ensured that China is “willing to work with you, remove obstacles for our friendship, and jointly create a better future for China-Philippines relations.”
“What China has brought to the Philippines was not colonization but cooperation and friendship,” he added.
Huang noted that over the past six years, the Philippines and China have picked a good and new momentum in their relationship.
“The good momentum is worth cherishing by both sides. I firmly believe that committing to the China-Philippines friendship will bring continuous benefits to our people,” he said.