What do Filipinos have against Chinese Filipinos? Meet the Tsinoys
- Chinese migration to the Philippines has long been a divisive topic – even among a group you might find surprising
Flores said that after the Philippines normalised ties with China, Beijing responded by extending loans – and that Tokyo then followed suit to keep up with its rival. He added that part of the normalisation included “setting aside but not giving up [the South China Sea claims] and always negotiating continuously”.
Others, however, are wary of Beijing’s expansionism – even if they will not say so openly.
A survey conducted by private pollster Social Weather Stations this September found 87 per cent of Filipinos considered it important for the country to regain control of reefs that China now occupies.
The debate recently boiled over when noted economist and former economic planning secretary Solita Monsod wrote a controversial column in the top-selling Philippine Daily Inquirer about why Filipinos distrust China and Chinese.