THE FOREIGN ministers of the Philippines and China will sign an agreement during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s state visit to China next week to open direct communication lines and avoid tensions in Philippine-claimed areas in the South China Sea, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The agreement, which will be signed by Philippine Foreign Secretary Jose Enrique A. Manalo and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, would establish “direct communication” between their ministries at various levels, DFA Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs Nathaniel G. Imperial told a news briefing.
He said the accord aims “to avoid miscalculation and miscommunication in the West Philippine Sea (WPS),” the part of the South China Sea that is legally owned by the Philippines.
Mr. Marcos, 65, will visit China on Jan. 3 to 5, his first state visit for 2023 and the first outside of the Southeast Asian region.
The state visit comes as the Philippines continues to be dragged into the trade competition between China, the world’s second largest economy, and the United States, which has vowed to protect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
The DFA official said Mr. Marcos would raise issues related to the sea dispute during his meeting with Mr. Xi Jinping, but declined to clarify whether the Philippine leader would touch on Beijing’s island-building activities in the disputed area.
“In these meetings with Chinese leaders, the president will discuss the full range of our bilateral relations, both the positive aspects and the sensitive aspects of our relations, which includes the issues of the WPS and China’s activities in the areas.”
China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea, which is believed to contain massive oil and gas deposits and through which billions of dollars in trade passes each year. It has ignored a 2016 ruling of a United Nations-backed arbitration court that voided its claim based on a 1940s map.
The Philippines has been unable to enforce the ruling and has since filed hundreds of protests over what it calls encroachment and harassment by China’s coast guard and its vast fishing fleet.
The Philippines will also renew the agreement on its participation in the Belt and Road Initiative of China, which the DFA said complements the infrastructure program of the Marcos administration.
Mr. Imperial said the Philippines is looking at possible grants from China amounting to 1.5 billion Renminbi or about P12 billion, as well as sign framework agreements on three priority bridges crossing the Pasig-Marikina River and the Manggahan Floodway bridges project.
According to Mr. Imperial, there is strong interest from Chinese investors in the Philippine economy, especially in agriculture, renewable energy and nickel processing.
“China imports 70%of its nickel ore and concentrates requirements from the Philippines. So there’s a lot of potential in those sectors,” he said.
The Philippine government would also finalize an import agreement on durian and push for possible Chinese investment in durian-producing regions in Mindanao, Mr. Imperial said.
He said Philippine Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual will sign a memorandum of understanding on digital cooperation, which focuses on the exchange of best practices and capacity building on digital connectivity.
An agreement on tourism cooperation is also expected to be signed.
China was the Philippines’ second largest source of foreign tourists before the pandemic, accounting for 1.74 million Chinese visitors in 2019. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
