Is there still hope for Philippine-China relations?

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else have your way.  — Daniele Vare

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.  Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.  — Abraham Lincoln

Can we in the Philippines still save our bilateral ancient ties with our Asian neighbor — the world’s biggest nation and now already the second largest economy — in these troubled times of what China expert Chito Sta. Romana described as “the lowest point in our diplomatic relations”?

How can we, as ordinary citizens, the private sector and civil society groups, use people-to-people relations to overcome growing misunderstandings caused by age-old territorial disputes by politicians in both countries, as well as by extraneous factors such as superpower rivalry for strategic dominance in the Asia Pacific region?

It was a privilege for this writer to be invited to speak as reactor at an unprecedented multi-sectoral forum titled “Understanding 21st Century China: All Under Heaven?” on April 2 at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Makati City by seven leading organizations: AIM Policy Center, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Asia Society, former senior government officials, the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association of the Philippines, Tufts Fletcher School Alumni Association Philippines, Ramos Peace and Development Foundation, Inc. and Shell.

The three speakers were Syracuse University Professor Emeritus Marwyn Samuels on China’s geopolitical landscape, Asian Development Bank’s Harvard-educated Dr. Zheng Liping on China’s changing socioeconomic landscape, and Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy graduate, former ABC News Beijing bureau chief Chito Sta. Romana on “Opportunities for Enhancing People-to-People Relations.”

The three reactors were this writer, UP president Dr. Alfredo Pascual and Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) president and philanthropist Dr. Alfonso Siy. 

Among the numerous dignitaries in the audience were former President Fidel V. Ramos, former Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary, MAP National Security Committee chairman and now Pepsi official Rafael Alunan III, former Senators Vicente Paterno and Leticia Ramos Shahani, Ambassador Wilfrido Villacorta, President Noynoy Aquino’s presidential adviser on political affairs Ronald Llamas, numerous top business and government leaders, diplomats from the US, Russia and other embassies, military and national security top brass as well as busloads of young military officers.

A neighbor with non-stop flux of changes & reforms

Here is a condensed version of my speech as well as some of my answers in the freewheeling open forum session that followed:

First of all, before I react to the three speakers, I wish to cite the presence of former President Fidel V. Ramos in the audience, not only because he was a hardworking and outstanding leader who led a period of robust economic growth, but also because he has one of the most successful foreign policy track records in our Philippine history.

I do not say that because he happens to be here, but what I vividly recall is that during FVR’s presidency, he didn’t give up on our territorial disagreement with China on the Spratleys, yet he was able to also adroitly maintain good, stable high-level relations with their top leaders. I cannot forget TV news reports showing FVR singing karaoke songs with then President Jiang Zemin, I think it was on board a yacht or at a reception. All these were hallmarks of statesmanship and pragmatic diplomacy.

On the speech of Professor Samuels, here are some of his salient points that stuck in my mind. He said: “We should remember this caveat: It is not easy to understand China, even the Chinese are still trying to fully understand themselves.” This is very true. We shouldn’t have a one-dimensional view of China or think of it in terms of the 1960s Cultural Revolution or Cold War-era China, because it is a vast (as big as several Europes and North Americas), complex and constantly changing civilization. Let us have an open mind, let us think out of the box.

I also highly recommend that we read the essays and book by Cambridge-educated Martin Jacques, also the books and essays of Yale University’s respected Dr. Jonathan Spence especially his book The Struggle for Modern China.

Professor Samuels said that ever since 1980 under reformist leader Deng Xiaoping, China has focused from its interior continental land mass towards the sea and its seaports. I think as a rising power, China believes it needs to secure its trade routes and its territorial integrity by upgrading not only its navy but also its maritime fleet and ports. I believe this will be a reality of our new century. Let us help remind our neighbor and our politicos that the best win-win scenario for all is peace in our seas.

Focus on economic growth and stability, not politics

ADB economist Dr. Zheng Liping has given us comprehensive statistics and trends on the remarkable economic miracle of China as the world’s second largest economy, with the biggest foreign reserves of US$3.8 trillion, an average personal savings rate at 50 percent and rising foreign investments to other countries. His analyses of their leaders’ new focus on structural reforms and social development with slower economic growth of five to seven percent annual growth in the coming years is still good news for the world. What does it mean for us in the Philippines?

For people who have not visited China, many still think that it is a socialist state steeped in Maoist revolutionary fervor. However, I’ve visited that vast and constantly changing nation which is getting rich but still struggling for social equality and other challenges. Dr. Zheng’s economic picture is even more stunning up close.

Visiting China makes us realize that the two top priorities of their leaders are economic development, or how to feed 1.4 billion people; and the need to maintain stability. What about the masses? Like most ethnic Chinese people worldwide, their obsession is the frenetic quest for personal wealth.

Politics or conflicts in domestic affairs or foreign affairs detract from their top priorities. Why don’t we do more trade with them and woo their investors here like our neighbors Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and others are doing so well?

A good neighbor is better than a distant relative

Last but definitely not the least is the country’s top China expert Chito Sta. Romana, whom Secretary Raffy Alunan, seated beside me earlier, said had been his former La Salle classmate.

After hearing Chito’s awesome, balanced and strategic analysis of our diplomatic dilemna with China and his call for increased people-to-people relations, I wish to say that it is impossible that Chito is a La Sallite! Why? Only a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University could have made such a brilliant speech, so I am hereby publicly staking our indisputable territorial claim on Chito Sta. Romana as a blue-blooded Atenean! I am willing to even go to UNCLOS to file this legal claim.

Seriously, Chito Sta. Romana is a true patriot who unemotionally calls a spade a spade. He stated that political relations between the leaders of the Philippines and China are at their lowest ebb now. He also explained to us why, in Chinese or even in East Asian culture, a lawsuit is considered an unfriendly act in the Confucian tradition, though Chito said he tried to explain to China scholars that lawsuits are common in our American-influenced system where even ex-presidents are sued.

Possible long-term good news and a way out of territorial disputes: Chito revealed China has successfully concluded bilateral negotiations with many neighbors like Russia, India, Vietnam and others through many years of talks and patience from all sides, and that there have been cases when China’s leaders do compromise on their territorial claims vis-à-vis those of their neighbors. It is not hopeless.

I agree with Chito that never before has the need for us ordinary citizens, media, educators, business and civil society groups to strengthen people-to-people relations and to bridge the chasm of misunderstandings between the Philippines and China been as important as now.

There will always be hawks and radical fringes in both our societies who wish to see bilateral ties worsen despite this scenario being disadvantageous for both countries’ national interests, but I believe the silent majority wants amity and trade.

A few months ago at Chinese culture forum at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila in Intramuros, Manila, I said in my speech: “We need to remember that in the long history of the Philippines’ encounters with foreign countries, we were colonized four times — the Spanish, the British, the Americans and the Japanese. Throughout those colonial years, Filipinos were killed and the country’s resources were plundered. On the other hand, what has the Chinese done in over a thousand years here? They just traded, they even gave us siopao, siomai, mami and lomi.”

In closing, let me share another idea, which should be a reminder to politicians of both our Philippine society and China. There’s an ancient Chinese proverb that says: “A good neighbor is better than a distant relative.” Coincidentally, the Bible also says in Proverbs 27:10: “Better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.”

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