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Intellectual people
The Philippine president marked a dramatic shift in foreign policy four years ago, when he entered into a close relationship with Beijing in exchange for billions of dollars in Chinese investment.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in April 2019 in Beijing, China.
After more than four years in power, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continues to fight to show that the Philippines has benefited more from a closer alliance with China.
In 2016, with a drastic change in the Philippines’ foreign policy, Duterte declared that the country was “separate” from the United States, a military ally, and declared closer relations with China.
In addition, the country’s president also dismissed his country’s territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea in exchange for billions of dollars that China has pledged to invest in infrastructure.
But much of that promised investment has not materialized, and projects have been delayed or shelved, while anti-China rhetoric is increasingly widespread in the Duterte government and among the Filipino public. .
“China has just started two of its committed infrastructure projects, a bridge and an irrigation project, and both have encountered major difficulties that could lead to a complete shutdown. said Greg Poling, Southeast Asia Senior Fellow and Director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Beijing has also not backed down from the harassment in the South China Sea. Therefore, President Duterte is increasingly accused of minimizing himself to Beijing and receiving nothing, “Poling told CNBC in an email.
Duterte’s approach to reconciliation with China is not well supported by most of the Philippine public, regional and global powers.
In a July poll, Filipinos trust the United States and Australia more than China. In particular, confidence in China was weaker than a similar survey conducted in December last year.
The decline in public sentiment toward China coincided with the Corona virus pandemic, which devastated the Philippine economy, and Beijing’s continued aggression in the South China Sea.
All of this “increases internal pressure on President Duterte to readjust his turn to China,” said Peter Mumford, head of Southeast Asia and South Asia at Eurasia Group. with CNBC by email.
Overall, comments criticizing China from Duterte’s own cabinet “do not indicate an imminent change in the regime’s stance on China,” said Dereck Aw, senior analyst at Said Control Risks.
The comments “should be seen as a deliberate attempt to appease national stakeholders, such as the military and the public, who are skeptical of his pro-China policy,” he told CNBC. Mr. Duterte “.
“The relationship between China and the Philippines will remain stable as long as Duterte is president. But action is stronger than words: The Duterte administration will continue to deepen its economic engagement with China and refuse to internationalize the South China Sea dispute, ”Aw said in an email.
But with less than two years left in his six-year term, Duterte is running out of time to achieve the economic results he wants from Beijing.
Eurasia Group’s Mumford notes that despite China’s largely unfulfilled promises, Duterte’s argument is that his country remains “better” at avoiding a confrontation with China because of the “imbalance.” worthy of power “between them.
“However, Mr. Duterte is under increasing pressure to demonstrate the benefits of relations with China,” he said.
Thuy Dung
According to CNBC
