China-Philippines relations: Marcos looks to Beijing visit, expanding ties after meeting Xi Jinping on Apec sidelines

China’s president told newly elected Philippine counterpart their two countries should resolve their maritime disputes through consultation
Marcos described ‘a very pleasant exchange’ and said two leaders spoke about plans for his state visit to China in early January: Philippines statement

China-Asean relations

Liu Zhenin BeijingandAmber Wangin Beijing

Published: 1:00pm, 18 Nov 2022

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The leaders of China and the Philippines have vowed to expand bilateral ties between the two nations, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos saying he looks forward to a state visit to China.

A Chinese statement released following talks on Thursday between Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping said the Philippine leader had pledged that his nation would not “choose sides” in diplomacy and would jointly “resist unilateralism and bullying acts”.

Statements from the Philippine side did not include those remarks, but said Marcos described the meeting as “a very pleasant exchange” adding that the two leaders spoke about plans for his state visit to China in early January.

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The two leaders discussed strengthening and expanding the relationship between the two countries, particularly in agriculture, energy, infrastructure and people-to-people connections, the Philippine statement said.

The leaders met in person on the sidelines of this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Bangkok on Thursday afternoon, only a few days after United States President Joe Biden visited the region to strengthen America’s partnership with Asean, and two months after Biden’s bilateral meeting with Marcos on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

As one of the major rival claimants over the South China Sea, a key member of Asean and an ally of the United States, the Philippines is critical to both Washington’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and Beijing’s regional strategic and geopolitical plans.

Since Marcos came into office in June, Xi has repeatedly expressed a willingness to strengthen ties, and his hope that the Philippines will “maintain an independent foreign policy”, which means reducing the influence of the US.

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Manila has carefully balanced its relations with China while maintaining close relations with the US. Earlier this week, it was announced the US would spend $66.5 million to start building training and warehouse facilities at three of its military bases in the Philippines under a 2014 joint security deal.

At Thursday’s meeting, Xi promised major infrastructure projects through the Belt and Road Initiative and offered cooperation on agriculture, clean energy, education, public health and other areas. He also said China would increase imports of Philippine agricultural products.

In 2016, under Marcos’s predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, China pledged a combined US$24 billion in loans and investment. Beijing has since restarted talks with the Philippines over funding billions of US dollars worth of infrastructure projects after Marcos called Beijing out for falling short of previous pledges.

However, the two countries have hugely overlapping claims to the South China Sea, which is a frequent source of tension, and on Thursday Xi told Marcos that they should resolve their maritime disputes through consultation.

“As long as maritime relations remain stable, the general situation of the Sino-Philippine relationship will be stable and friendly and cooperative relations will be taken to a new level,” Xi said.

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In September, the two sides failed to make progress in their initial talks on potential oil and gas exploration in the resource-rich waters, with the issue of profit-sharing remaining a major sticking point.

The Philippines scored a victory against China in a 2016 arbitration which declared Beijing’s claim over nearly the entire South China Sea illegal. Marcos has said he would uphold the ruling, which Beijing has refused to recognise.

The Philippines has also long accused Chinese vessels of disrupting fishing activities in the disputed waters.

Next week US Vice-President Kamala Harris will meet Marcos in the Philippines. Manila’s ambassador to Washington said on Thursday that the country wanted to play a role in peaceful coexistence between the United States and China.