Philippines faces risk of Beijing’s economic coercion amid South China Sea row: analysts
- The assessment comes as the Philippines continues to run a huge trade deficit with China due to the heavy reliance on Chinese imports
Last year, China was the biggest importer of goods into the Philippines with a total value of US$29.4 billion, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The Philippines exported almost US$11 billion of goods to China over the same year, indicating that the Southeast Asian country ran a trade deficit of about US$18 billion with its neighbour.
The Philippines has accused China of aggressive naval manoeuvres in the disputed waterway while Beijing has said that Manila regularly trespassed into its maritime territory.
Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and lecturer at the Department of International Studies of De La Salle University, said trade between the two countries reflected a preference by Philippine businesses for Chinese manufactured goods.
A hasty diversification away from Chinese imports amid international political uncertainties could cause the Philippines to face major socio-economic challenges in the short to medium term, according to Gill.