Why don’t Manila and Beijing have closer military ties, despite Duterte’s ‘pivot to China’?
- China has attempted to entice the Philippines into closer security ties since Duterte became president in 2016
- But stand-offs over the South China Sea and a defence treaty with the US are among the reasons the Philippine army has carefully ignored its overtures
“The PLA stands ready to deepen the mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual confidence with our Filipino counterparts, and to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability,” he said.
Philippine defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana provided a textbook response at the time, saying: “We anticipate more mutually productive and beneficial cooperation with you to create greater understanding and friendship between our two nations.”
However, Lorenzana’s true feelings emerged at a news forum two days later. “So they are saying … they want peace in the South China Sea, blah blah blah,” he said. “But it does not match what they are doing on the ground.”
Duterte’s 2016 “pivot to China” included setting aside a historic arbitral victory over Beijing’s claim to much of the South China Sea through its “nine-dash line”, which the president said was in return for obtaining preferential loans for infrastructure projects.