Beijing’s latest donation came on top of a May gift of US$292,000 worth of medical supplies and personal protective equipment from China’s defence ministry, and US$30.8 million worth of engineering equipment provided to the Philippine armed forces last year.

Wei and Lorenzana also agreed to continue revising the 2004 Philippines-China memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation, which would pave the way for “more personnel exchanges, training, and better communications channels” between the two militaries, according to a press release issued by Lorenzana’s office.

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‘China has the arms, we do not’, Duterte rules out confronting Beijing in the South China Sea

‘China has the arms, we do not’, Duterte rules out confronting Beijing in the South China Sea

The Chinese defence ministry’s statement added that the Chinese military was willing to strengthen its ties with the Philippine armed forces. It stressed that maintaining the stability of the South China Sea was a shared responsibility of the two countries, and that disputes in the waterway should be resolved through consultation.

Of the four countries he visited, only Indonesia is not a claimant state in the sea, although Jakarta has clashed with Beijing over Chinese fishing ships entering its exclusive economic zone around the Natuna Islands and rejected the nine-dash line China uses as a basis for its claims in the waters.

The South China Sea is among the issues on which the United States and China are at loggerheads amid their deepening rivalry, and it was discussed at an annual summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers and other regional partners that kicked off on Wednesday.

During the summit, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi criticised the US for its hardened position on the South China Sea dispute, while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reasserted Washington’s concerns over Beijing’s “aggressive actions” in the waterway.

Members of the 10-country Asean bloc have maintained that they count both the US and China as economic partners and want to maintain peace and stability in the region, but in recent months they have also been more vocal about pushing back against Beijing’s expansive claims in the sea.

In a joint statement released late on Thursday, Asean member states said progress had been made in negotiations to draft a code of conduct in the South China Sea that was consistent with international law, including the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea.

“Concerns were expressed by some ministers on the land reclamations, activities, and serious incidents in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions, and may undermine peace, security, and stability in the region,” the statement said.

‘If China attacks our navy, we’ll call the US’, Philippines says

Wei and Lorenzana also discussed the South China Sea during their Friday meeting. The Philippine defence department initially issued a press release describing Lorenzana’s firm stance on the waterway, but it was later recalled and replaced with a substantially toned-down version.

It said Lorenzana had outlined Manila’s commitment to “enforcement [of the award] without any possibility of compromise or change”, and added that he told Wei the Philippine military would continue to “to conduct routine, legitimate maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea and challenge any activities that infringe on Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction”, referring to the Philippine territorial waters that China claims as its own.

The updated press release removed any mention of the 2016 award, patrols or Philippine sovereignty – only mentioning that Wei and Lorenzana had discussed “how to avoid misunderstanding and to resolve differences amicably” over the South China Sea, while agreeing that “peace and stability should be maintained” in the waterway. It also mentioned that they had talked about the early conclusion of a code of conduct for the sea.

Lorenzana also expressed optimism that the meeting would “advance mutual trust for future exchanges on matters of security and mutual concern”, it said.

Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the Philippines’ move of late to take a stronger stance on the South China Sea could be a means of relieving pressure on the Duterte administration, given public polls that show a negative perception of China.

“At the same time, we see that the Duterte administration still needs China to help with his delivery of socioeconomic goods to his domestic constituents, not least investments and export market access to spur economic recovery, as well as access to Covid-19 vaccines,” Koh said. “In short, there’s a domestic context that drives Duterte to be ‘harder’ on China, yet he can’t do without China.”

Wei’s visit, the fifth by a Chinese defence minister to Manila since 2002, came days after Lorenzana gave the nod for China-backed firm Dito Telecommunity to build cell mobile phone towers inside military camps – and a week after new Philippine armed forces chief Gilbert Gapay told senators that “while our ties with China are warming up, it doesn’t mean we are abandoning our ties with the United States”.

It was the highest-profile visit of his four-city tour of Southeast Asia, which Koh said was a way for Beijing to convey to the international community that ties with Manila remained warm.

“If anything, if it stands in sharp contrast to the lower-key visits to other capitals, this visit would reflect the division between Asean member states concerning their stances on the South China Sea issues and China,” he said. “They continue to act per their national interests.”

Additional reporting by Dewey Sim