$22.8 billion for ‘peaceful’ management of disputes

Philippine President’s three-day visit to Beijing. 14 cooperation agreements were signed, including the creation of a direct line between the respective foreign ministries. Filipino nationalists and activists want a tougher stance on China. Marcos jr’s openings do not resolve the territorial dispute.

Rome () – Chinese investors have pledged financial commitments in the Philippines amounting to 22.8 billion dollars, the Press Office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced today at the end of his three-day visit to China. The funds from the Asian giant had the immediate effect of tempering Manila’s rhetoric against Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The joint statement after the meeting between Marcos jr and Xi Jinping states that the two parties agreed to establish a direct communication channel between their respective foreign ministries to manage the dispute over the large body of water in a “peaceful manner”.

Filipino nationalists and activists actually want their president to enforce an international court of arbitration ruling to protect national borders from China’s territorial claims. In 2016, the Hague Tribunal ruled that Chinese claims to almost 90% of the South China Sea lacked legal basis”: a verdict that Beijing has never acknowledged.

Along with Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and partly Indonesia, the Philippines opposes the claims of China, which for years has continued to militarize some islands and coral reefs in that maritime area. To contain Beijing’s expansion, US ships and warplanes conduct regular patrols near these military posts.

Marcos jr stressed that Xi has vowed to find a compromise regarding the problems of Filipino fishermen operating in the disputed areas. As Rappler pointed out, they have long claimed that their catch has been reduced to near zero due to the presence of large Chinese convoys and interdiction operations by the Beijing Coast Guard.

China and the Philippines have signed a total of 14 cooperation agreements. Regarding the South China Sea, the two governments expressed their willingness to reopen the dialogue on the joint exploration of the sea basin for the search for oil and gas. Marcos Jr. said in early December that his country had to find a way to exploit the hydrocarbon resources found in the disputed region, even without an agreement with the Chinese.

The Philippines needs investment to build new infrastructure. It is not surprising that Marcos jr has gone to Beijing to ask for financing. However, his “openings” on the South China Sea always remain in the context of “management” of the crisis and not a solution.

It should be remembered that, in order to reduce tensions, the Association of Southeast Asian Countries has been dedicated since 2016 to negotiating with Beijing a “code of conduct” for navigation in the disputed sea. Negotiations drag on with little result, mainly because the Chinese refuse to give the document binding legal value.

The Philippine president must also take into account his American ally. Manila recently revealed that Washington wants to build five new military posts in the country, two of them in the northern province of Cagayan. The area dominates the Luzon Strait that separates the Philippines from Taiwan: a nerve center in the event of a conflict between Beijing and Taipei. It is also true for the US strategy – still in the development phase – to prevent Chinese naval attacks against Taiwanese territory with an “anti-Navy”: an active defense with ground units scattered throughout the western Pacific using precision missiles. to keep Beijing’s naval forces at a distance.