Neighbors’ deals signal focus on development

The 30 Sino-Philippine operative projects worth $3.7 billion on poverty reduction, announced after a meeting between Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez in Beijing on Monday, mark further progress in improving bilateral relations since October when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte visited Beijing. The fact that the projects covered are only the “initial batch” of a much wider range of deals that also include $15 billion in pledged investment by China to the Philippines points to the vast potential for win-win cooperation between the two neighbors.

All this has not come easily. Duterte’s predecessor Benigno Aquino III adopted a confrontational stance on the South China Sea, which culminated in a Hague-based arbitral tribunal ruling in July in a case brought by Manila that sought to invalidate China’s historical claim of sovereignty over the Nansha Islands.

Aquino was emboldened in his confrontational approach by the United States’ rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific. Yet the facts prove that playing the role of Washington’s pawn has served Manila no good. It only escalated tensions and jeopardized regional peace and stability.

Fortunately the new Philippine administration has brought bilateral relations back on track by responding favorably to China’s call to build mutual trust and manage differences in the South China Sea through dialogue and consultations, which has re-opened the door to cooperation.

China has shown its goodwill, pledging to help its neighbor develop its economy, and providing capital and signing deals on much-needed infrastructure projects such as railways, urban rail transit, highways and ports.

The progress made suggests China and the Philippines have a foundation of friendship strong enough to withstand the pressure that may be put on their relations by Japan and the United States, who are still keen to rope the Philippines into their geostrategic games in the South China Sea.

And the potential for further cooperation between the two neighbors is huge as China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to boost trade and connectivity across Asia, Europe and Africa is gaining more and more momentum.

The Philippines assumes chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, and after the divisiveness that stemmed from Aquino’s approach, it is to be hoped that its change of tack offers the opportunity for the region to come together at a time of growing global uncertainty.