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Opinion
With 50 years of history, Manila and Beijing should do better diplomacy
Stop allowing South China Sea spat to poison the waters when there are in fact many areas of potential cooperation for mutual benefit
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Lucio Blanco Pitlo III is president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies and research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation.
June 9 marks the 50th anniversary of Philippines-China relations, ties steeped in history but marred by friction in recent years. Sadly, an overemphasis on the intractable sea dispute has polluted broader connections, stunting economic cooperation and stigmatising people-to-people exchanges. This is irrational and unproductive.
For Manila to make the sea row front and centre of ties is a tragedy of its foreign policy. For China to see its smaller neighbour as a mere pawn in its great power competition with Washington is a recipe for misunderstanding; it lets down Beijing’s neighbourhood diplomacy.
Allowing security issues to dominate relations is neither wise nor strategic. Confining ties to maritime tensions, alleged spying and influence operations limits their scope and potential. Describing your big neighbour as an adversary can be a dangerous, self-fulfilling prophecy. Increasing pressure on a smaller neighbour may push it deeper into a rival’s embrace.
Other Southeast Asian coastal states with similar concerns assign less publicity to their sea rows and employ more effective strategies. Manila and Beijing should do better diplomacy.
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