By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
“The Philippines has a special friendship with China.”
For those who just woke up before reading this, don’t fall off the bed or click-close my column. Just like you, I thought I read this statement in a dream.
But truth be told, these are the exact words that have been coming out of the mouth of the President of our republic since he sat in Malacanang. Many times in the news, it’s been quoted that it sounds like a mantra of a mission-vision statement for a new era in the country’s bilateral ties with China.
Of course, the centerpiece of this relationship is the South China Sea.
One does not just become an instant “beshie” of a world superpower. You’ve got to have a ticket to get to ride with the big boys.
It so happens that our “ticket” is quite the elite kind – a document from The Hague that invalidates China’s sweeping claim over territories in the South China Sea and, at the same time, recognizes the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the territories claimed by China within our exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Compare it to a trump card that – to borrow The Godfather’s live-or-die principle – keeps our friends close and our enemies closer. In this sense, we may interchange references to the United States and China, both of them having bone-deep interests in this crucial trade and battlefront.
But after setting aside The Hague ruling in the name of our “MU” (mutual understanding) with China, where has this special friendship led us to?
China has been building artificial structures on our end of the sea, policing our EEZ, licking off our fishing boats, confiscating our fishermen’s harvest, training its radar guns on our aircraft carrier, and firing missiles close to our sea borders.
Our Foreign Affairs Secretary has had enough, warning China last week “to expect the worst” should those naval war games spill over to Philippine territory. Earlier, Sec. Teodoro Locsin Jr. also recommended ending local contracts with Chinese firms found to be behind incursions in our turf in the South China Sea.
The President has been quiet about this so far. So, his mantra’s status quo remains: “The Philippines has a special relationship with China.”
It remains to be seen how dependable this special friendship really is. But, no matter how many times I hear the President say this, it strikes me as more of his perception over the plain truth that it’s one hell of a scary friendship.
Tough as he is, Duterte’s foreign policy with China is getting to be more difficult to swallow by the day – mainly because China is one mightily lousy friend.
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