Duterte the bridge builder to push infrastructure projects in Beijing
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to push for Chinese help to improve his country’s dilapidated infrastructure when he visits Beijing next week, analysts said.
Duterte would also set aside South China Sea sovereignty issues and discuss cooperation with China in the disputed waters in talks with Chinese leaders on the sidelines of a summit for the “Belt and Road Initiative”, observers said.
The Duterte administration has launched a US$72 billion, three-year programme to build much-needed infrastructure in the Philippines by 2020. The projects run the gamut from transport to water resources, sewerage and flood management.
Some of that programme overlaps with China’s pledged US$15 billion in investment in the Philippines. These projects include a railway and a hydroelectric dam but many of them have yet to get off the ground.
Dai Fan, a specialist in Sino-Philippine relations at Jinan University in Guangzhou, said Duterte would be keen to have a practical impact.
“At the end of next month, Duterte will have been in office for a whole year. But his plan to revive the Philippines through infrastructure projects has largely stayed on paper. So he is a bit anxious,” Dai said. “Duterte does not want others to label him as someone who only gives lip service. He wants to take the chance to get the Chinese projects started as soon as possible.”