Intense competition between US and China

G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, with President Biden saying he absolutely believes “there need not be a new Cold War,” while President Xi recognizes they share an interest in “no confrontation and peaceful coexistence.”

Being pragmatic, President ferdinand marcos Jr. knows that the Philippines has to squarely deal with the United states and China – both of which are our major trade partners – while keeping true to the commitment to uphold our national interest and defend our sovereignty. from the onset, he has adopted a balanced foreign policy that seeks to engage with traditional allies and pursue relationships with new partners – espousing the position that the Philippines is “a friend to all and an enemy to none.”

But the reality, however, is that more than 80 percent of filipinos remain distrustful of China, mainly because of what is happening in the West Philippine sea, with Chinese Coast Guard vessels’ incessant harassment and obstruction of Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessels on routine supply and humanitarian missions, conducting dangerous maneuvers that could result in a collision. China built artificial islands within our territorial waters, resulting in the destruction of coral reefs and causing marine species to lose their habitat. Worse, the bullying and harassment by Chinese vessels have deprived filipino fishermen of their livelihood.

A lot of filipinos approve of the proposal by the Department of education to include the West Philippine sea and the maritime territorial issues in the Grade 10 curriculum, with a lesson on the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the hague to be included as well. senator risa hontiveros also filed a resolution to declare July 12 every year as the “National West Philippine sea Victory Day” to commemorate the 2016 PCA ruling that invalidated China’s sweeping claims over the south China sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs also put up a microsite titled “Not one Inch” to document and commemorate the landmark PCA ruling, serving as a repository of information on the arbitral award and its contributions to the rule of law and peaceful settlement of disputes through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the sea and international law.

As one high level government official told me, “If China would only leave our territorial waters alone, we would have an extremely better relationship with them than any other country, with them being our neighbor.” the reality is – China’s harassment and bullying is the main cause of the animosity of 90 percent of filipinos, making us turn to our treaty ally, the United states, as “trustworthy and reliable” – an ally that is undoubtedly aligned with the Philippines’ firm resolve to protect its sovereignty.

Not surprisingly, the meeting of former president one thing is certain: I know for a fact that PBBm may have some issues with the United states – most especially stemming from what happened in the past – but he has undoubtedly made it clear that as the president, he will never allow whatever personal feelings or issues he may have to cloud his sworn duty to defend and preserve the best interest of the republic and the filipino people. (Philstar.com)

Rodrigo Duterte with President Xi has elicited extreme anxiety and agitation among many filipinos. But as President marcos said, any new line of communication between China and the Philippines is welcome, more so if the discussion included the shadowing by Chinese vessels and other issues surrounding the West Philippine sea.

Clearly, China is looking for “microphones” – meaning personalities who are willing to speak out about their position, like former U. s s tate s ecretary h enry Kissinger, another “old friend” who also visited China recently. But there also seems to be an increased activity by paid bloggers, hackers and China sympathizers out to discredit personalities who consistently speak out about China’s aggressive behavior.

But no matter which way it goes, the Philippines will remain focused on engaging with China because it is in our mutual interest to have good economic relations with our neighbor, just like what the Philippines is doing with the U.s. We just hope that those who profess love of country or who may have personal ill feelings about the United states or China – regardless of whether they are more inclined to favor one country over the other – what is important is to remember that deep inside, he or she is a filipino, and will think long term on the effects of his or her actions one way or another.

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