THE PHILIPPINES under President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. would probably keep close economic ties with China despite a security partnership with the United States, according to political analysts.
But increasing tensions in the South China Sea and Manila’s involvement in the China-Taiwan conflict pose threats to their relationship, they said.
“Recent improvements in US-Philippine relations don’t have that automatic negative effect on our relations with China,” Enrico V. Gloria, who teaches foreign policy at the University of the Philippines, said in a Messenger chat. “Improving relations with the US doesn’t have to come at the expense of the gains we’ve made in our relations with China during the past couple of years,” Mr. Gloria said.
China’s focus shift from manufacturing to services such as telecommunications, electricity distribution and banking is driving the expansion of Chinese investments overseas, particularly in Latin American countries, according to a report from think tank Foreign Affairs. “Until there is a clear realization of the gains from economic relations with China, we are just discussing their promise and potential,” he said via Viber, noting that China had failed to deliver on its investment pledges to the Duterte government.
Last month, Mr. Marcos met with officials of China Communications Construction Co Ltd. to talk about its proposal to build an industrial park for its grass cultivation and processing projects. EDCA, which was signed in 2014, is seen as strategic to Washington’s defense of Taiwan, which is being claimed by China. Taiwan is just 390 kilometers away from northern Philippines.