Duterte eyes China trip to boost trade, investments

President Duterte is planning to visit China again to seek more trade and investments for the Philippines.

The President recognized that China has been “very good” to the country, saying he was not ashamed to request more assistance for the country to sustain economic growth.

China has reportedly invited the Philippine leader to attend a conference although Duterte did not say the date of his upcoming foreign visit.

“I like more investments for my place. I’ll go there to argue my case. You have exceedingly been very good to us, but I have to find another world because I want more, I am very poor,” Duterte said during a gathering of the Filipino-Chinese community at the Manila Hotel last Monday night.

“It’s the development, the progress on a high gear, kumbaga primera, segunda, naka-tercera na tayo (It’s like we’ve gone on first, second and third gears). We have to go to the fourth gear for a cruising… So I need the help of China. Why should I be ashamed?” he added.

He said China has shown goodwill “not because they are afraid but because they want to maintain good relations with everybody – not only in the Philippines.” Apart from the weapons given by China to the Philippine military, Duterte cited that Beijing has also offered to build two bridges in the country for free.

The President made the remarks before the crowd that included former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua attending the 10th biennial national convention and 20th anniversary celebration of the Chinese Filipino Business Club, Inc.

Duterte’s last visit to China was in May 2017 when he met President Xi Jinping and attended the “One Belt, One Road” summit. He also had a state visit to China back in October 2016.

Friendly relations

Meantime, the President has pushed for friendly relations with China instead of waging war over the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

The President has ruled out the use of force in dealing with the territorial conflict with China even as he asserted the country’s ownership of the West Philippine Sea and the Philippine Rise.

“We can only be diplomatic. We can only be talking on friendly and civilized terms,” Duterte said.

“We cannot go there, ride in our whatever, Navy, the gray ships, the Coast Guard and start waving our rifles. We cannot do that today. It is unrealistic. It cannot be true,” he said.

The President maintained that he would not send the country’s security forces to war only to be “slaughtered.” “I will not commit the lives of the Filipinos only to die unnecessarily. I will not go into a battle which I can never win,” he said.

PH not the enemy

He admitted that China was building “structures and military bases” but expressed doubt these were intended against the Philippines. “It’s not intended for us. The contending ideological powers of the world or the geopolitics has greatly changed. It’s really intended against those who the Chinese think would destroy them and that is America,” he said.

Joint exploration

Apart from forging closer economic and investment relations, the President also acknowledged that the country is prepared to conduct joint exploration with China in the West Philippine Sea but would seek bigger share of the treasure.

“Why should I fight? China is willing to talk. As a matter of fact, there is ongoing negotiations for joint exploration,” Duterte said.

“Kasi yung oil, joint naman, 'yung pinakamarami, two-thirds sa amin, one-third sa inyo (Because the oil, it's joint exploration, we will have the biggest share. Two-thirds will be ours, one-third yours),” he added.

PH Rise is ours

Duterte made clear that the country asserts ownership of the Philippine Rise and downplayed the Chinese names given to the features of the area previously known as Benham Rise as part of China’s scientific exploration.

“This Philippine Rise is ours, period. The continental shelf below it is Philippine jurisdiction, that is ours,” he said.

“Now ngayon, pumunta ang China, naglagay ng markers, mga ganun...tapos Chinese characters. Eh alang-alang gawain nilang German, ang alam lang nila Chinese [Now China went there, placed some markers in Chinese characters. They would not do it in German, they know Chinese],” he said.

“Those are just directions na tapos na sila diyan [that they are finished there]. Of course, they do it in Chinese because it’s their dialect, alangan i-Tagalog mo ‘yan? [They wouldn't give Filipino names]. Those are fixtures or features,” he said.

China earlier succeeded in registering official names to five undersea features of the Philippine Rise following a maritime survey. The Chinese names were reportedly