China’s Foreign Minister’s Manila Visit Won’t Improve Sino-Philippine Relations, Expert Says

As the strategic competition between the United States and China intensifies, the Philippines has become a key country in the geopolitics in Asia-Pacific. The Chinese regime’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang visited the Philippines recently in a bid to repair bilateral relations damaged by China’s aggression.

However, an international observer believes Qin’s visit may be in vain.

The Philippines and the United States have recently increased cooperation on national security. This year, the Philippines has opened four military bases to the U.S. military and launched the largest joint military exercise in decades to deepen military cooperation with the United States.

Meanwhile, the relationship between the Philippines and the Chinese communist regime has deteriorated due to its aggressive behavior in the South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who visited the Philippines from April 21 to 23, said that China is willing to cooperate with the Philippines to resolve differences in the South China Sea.

China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang (2nd R) and China’s Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian (R) attend a meeting with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo at the Diamond Hotel in Metro Manila on April 22, 2023. (Gerard Carreon/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

But experts believe it will be very difficult for the CCP to restore relations with the Philippines.

Marcos Turns to US

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pledged to continue Duterte’s policies during his presidential campaign. At the time, he said Duterte’s diplomatic engagement policy with China was “really our only option.”

However, after being elected in May 2022, Marcos changed his tone, saying the Philippines won’t give up even a square inch of territory to any foreign power.

Song Guocheng, a researcher at the International Relations Research Center of National Chengchi University, told The Epoch Times that there are two main reasons for the drastic change in the Philippines’ policy toward the CCP.

“In the early days, Marcos Jr. made some relatively pro-China remarks in the hope that the CCP would expand investment or so-called loans to the Philippines, but the CCP did not fulfill its promise, so Marcos Jr. felt a little bit cheated,” he said.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during the 126th anniversary of the founding of the Philippine Army at Fort Bonifacio near Manila, Philippines, on March 22, 2023. (Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

The Philippines has benefited little from Duterte’s pro-China policies. Japanese media Nikkei reported that despite Duterte’s frequent visits to China and Beijing’s promises to invest tens of billions of dollars in the Philippines, less than half of those have been fulfilled.

“Another reason is that for a long time, the CCP has been harassing Filipino fishermen on the islands and reefs that the Philippines claims sovereignty over, especially the use of military lasers to cause temporary blindness to Filipino crew members a while ago. This is a military attack,” Song said.

“These two reasons led to Marcos Jr.’s determination, and he decided to turn to the United States.”

Qin’s Urgent Visit

Qin Gang’s visit coincided with the largest joint U.S.-Philippine military exercise in decades, involving more than 17,000 personnel from both countries.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr (center left) attends a live-fire drill on April 26, 2023, at the Naval Education Training and Doctrine Command (NETDC) in San Antonio, Zambales, Philippines. The live fire drill was part of the annual U.S.-Philippines drills called Balikatan, meaning “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog. (Jes Aznar/Getty Images)

Song believes that the tense relationship between China and the Philippines and the closer military cooperation between the United States and the Philippines led to Qin’s urgent visit to the Philippines, hoping to mend the tense relationship between China and the Philippines through diplomatic means or economic incentives.

Qin said during his visit that China is willing to work with the Philippines to maintain the correct direction of Sino-Philippines relations, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and properly resolve differences between the two countries.

After the meeting with Qin, Marcos said the two countries agreed to establish more dialogue channels to resolve the South China Sea disputes.

However, Song said that the communication lines established by the CCP has been unable to gain the trust of the international community anymore, and the traditionally established hotlines between China and the United States have been cut off by the CCP.

“I think it is impossible for Marcos Jr. to maintain a friendly relationship with the CCP. He is determined to turn to the United States. Through cooperation with the United States, he will resist the CCP’s aggression and harm and protect national and regional security.”

Zheng Xiaoqi and Yi Ru contributed to this report.