‘Positivism’

For five days last month, 56 businessmen from 12 provinces in China visited Metro Manila and Cebu for “matchmaking” mostly with members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing said their businessmen told her “they have a genuine interest in the Philippines, not just because of proximity but also because the Philippine economy is on the rise.”

The Chinese delegation also reportedly sensed “reciprocal interest” among Filipino businessmen.

So will the matchmaking bear fruit? Only if the Chinese get a satisfactory answer to what Ma describes as their “most important worry” – are they welcome in this country?

“The first question they ask is, is it safe? Is the government here friendly with us investors?” Ma told me last week.

The Chinese weren’t referring mainly to the many uncertainties that other foreign investors worry about when doing business here, but to bilateral relations. Building business relationships is risky enough, Ma noted, and the lack of trust and confidence due to strained bilateral ties “may be impossible to solve.”

The Philippines is a friendly nation; all countries are our friends, including North Korea, Iran and other foes of Uncle Sam. Among the most enduring memories that foreigners bring home with them after a long stay in this country is the friendliness of ordinary Filipinos (or at least this is what I hear at farewell parties).

China is unique in being the only country that is stirring up resentment here, not only in government but also among certain sectors of society, including environmental advocates and marginalized fisherfolk who have been shooed away from their traditional fishing grounds by Chinese vessels.

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Ambassador Ma, whose job is to foster closer relations with her host country, admits that since arriving in Manila last year, “I’ve encountered many setbacks.”

Often, she has seen several months of effort to enhance bilateral ties “turn out to be a failure and you get frustrated.” As head of mission, however, she says she can’t give up: “I try over and over again.”

In the case of Chinese businessmen, she told me, “I’ve always encouraged them to come, to explore the market, to feel what it’s like to invest here.”

The goodwill generated by the recent visit of Chinese basketball stars including Yao Ming, for example, was short-lived, quickly eclipsed by the Philippine protest over the presence of Chinese ships around Ayungin Shoal in Palawan’s Kalayaan Island Group.

Do such incidents complicate her job? “Definitely,” Ma sighed, although with a smile.

She lamented that the positive aspects of bilateral relations have not been sufficiently played up in the Philippine media.

Last March, for example, a non-government foundation named after Sun Yat-sen’s late widow Songqing Ling donated a new village to a community displaced by typhoon “Pablo” in Mindanao. China also donated two elementary school buildings in Mindanao, Ma said.

Despite tensions, 260,000 Chinese tourists from the mainland visited the Philippines last year, with Boracay their top destination.

Beijing is hoping that bilateral relations can move forward on several fronts even as the two countries work to resolve maritime territorial disputes.

This is what China is pursuing with its giant neighbor India, Ma pointed out. The two countries also have a border dispute, but Ma said the new leadership under President Xi Jinping is emphasizing “more positivism” in China’s foreign relations.

Ma cited the recent visit to India of new Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Both sides, she said, are aware of the importance of “cooperation rather than confrontation” between the two most populous nations, and the need “to manage well border disputes.”

The two neighbors aim to increase bilateral trade from the current $62 billion to $100 billion by 2016.

Ma was also pleased to note that US President Barack Obama is meeting with Xi next week – their first summit following the US elections and leadership change in China – in a relaxed, friendly setting, at a California resort, “like old friends.”

“They want to have a good start,” Ma told me. “The US and China have both realized that we should break away from the traditional patterns between the rising power and the incumbent power.”

Reports from Washington yesterday said the US is seeking deeper military ties with China, particularly in “non-traditional” areas such as peacekeeping and fighting piracy. Maybe they will jointly patrol the South China Sea?

From a zero sum game, wherein the rising power challenges the incumbent, inevitably leading to confrontation, the two sides are now seeking a “win-win” relationship based on cooperation, Ma said.

“This is not going to be easy,” she admitted. “This is a new pattern. You have to make creative efforts. It is inevitable that there are conflicting interests among big powers. To seek convergence – that is very challenging. In China, we believe it is possible. Nothing is impossible as long as we work hard.”

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China is reaching out particularly to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, Ma said. Beijing considers the region the most dynamic and promising in the world. It hopes Southeast Asian countries will “unleash the potential and not miss out on opportunity, otherwise it will not come easily again,” according to Ma.

“That’s why we have tried to promote cooperation (with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations),” she said. “Focus on the positive, which is mutually beneficial for China and the other countries concerned.”

China is aiming to strengthen trade with ASEAN, promote connectivity by land and sea, set up a platform for infrastructure financing in the region, and even promote maritime cooperation, starting with a donation of about $500 million to the ASEAN secretariat.

Last month, for the first time ever, there was a Chinese observer at the joint Balikatan military exercises between the Philippines and United States.

“Many positive things have happened and are happening between our two countries,” Ma stressed.

The positive things, unfortunately, are overshadowed by the negative, each time Chinese ships venture out to stake their nation’s bizarre claim over nearly the entire South China Sea.

Ma, however, emphasized, “We will follow the path of peaceful development.”

She probably remembered that it was not the first time she had given this reassurance, so she added, “We really mean it.”