Military exercises

China was reported to have asked the Philippines to hold joint military exercises. China has the nerve to ask for it at a time of their increased “aggressive” behavior in the West Philippine Sea. Our Department of Foreign Affairs has time and again filed diplomatic protests with Beijing over the presence of Chinese warships and survey vessels in the country’s waters without notifying local authorities. China has shown us no respect.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief General Romeo Brawner politely said the proposal would be studied. General Brawner also said that “We try to establish relations with armies, with armed forces around the world. This is one way for us to prevent war.”

Frankly, what is there to study? Holding a joint military exercise with China, given our difficult relations with it, is like sleeping with the enemy. It opens us up to scrutiny by an army we may end up being in conflict with.

And what do we gain? China has been harassing our Coast Guard, even trying to prevent resupply missions to our troops in the WPS.

We can’t consider China a friendly country until they start respecting the Arbitral Court decision on our exclusive economic zone in the WPS. That means they have to junk the whimsical nine (or is it now 12 dash lines?) that claims almost the entire sea as Chinese waters.

The offer for joint military exercises also comes shortly after Duterte sheepishly went to Beijing to kowtow to his emperor as ancient vassals did. It is obvious that China is trying to exploit and exacerbate what looks like simmering tension between the President and the Duterte faction of the coalition. Social media allies of Duterte have been critical of the President lately. The Vice President also insulted the Speaker of the House, the President’s first cousin.

China’s suggestion for joint military exercise is a cynical reaction to our President’s pivot back to the US, granting our military treaty ally access to more potential bases in the country. That’s in line with the sentiment of our people, which Duterte ignored during his term. A Pulse Asia survey last year revealed that Filipinos trusted the US most, China and Russia the least. Also high in our people’s trust are the UK, South Korea, Japan, Germany and Australia.

In 2019, the Social Weather Stations’ third quarter survey showed that nearly eight in 10, or 78 percent of Filipinos, believe the Philippines’ relationship with the US “is more important” than what it has with China.

Another SWS poll showed that 70 percent of Filipinos are also “worried” over the rise of Chinese workers in the country, with some even believing it may be a threat to national security.

The Xi Jinping-Duterte surprise meeting signals China’s intention to interfere in our domestic political affairs. China is banking on Duterte’s still high popularity rating and that his daughter is just a heartbeat away from Malacanang. Expect to see China supporting Duterte’s candidates in the midterm election whose victory would be a stern warning to Marcos Junior not to get too deep with the Americans.

Even if a big majority of Filipinos distrust China, it is unfortunate a good number will mindlessly follow Duterte to hell. China will use Duterte as it intensifies its propaganda effort to win more Filipinos to their side.

Beijing sees Southeast Asia as a key sphere of influence, and it has been increasing its public diplomacy and media presence in the region as part of a multibillion-dollar campaign under Xi that targets ethnic-Chinese communities.

They are already doing that in Singapore, a country officially friendly to the US. China’s appeal to a Greater China is raising anxiety about divided loyalties. Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam in a speech, urged Singaporeans to help nurture a “Singaporean Chinese culture so that our people remain rooted. … Help the government ensure Singapore’s policies can only be decided by Singaporeans.”

The Washington Post observed that “Shanmugam’s appeal was an unusually pointed statement from a government that is often circumspect on China so as not to upset ties with Beijing. It followed the prime minister’s Mandarin speech at last year’s August National Day rally, where he said messages shared on social media – he named WeChat alongside WhatsApp and Telegram – have the ‘ulterior aim’ of persuading Singaporeans to take sides.”

More dangerously for countries like the Philippines, “in seeking to incorporate citizens of other countries into its vision, critics say, Beijing is stoking divided loyalties, and their potentially destabilizing consequences, across Southeast Asia – home to more than 80 percent of the ethnic-Chinese people outside China and Taiwan…”

Concerns are most pronounced in Singapore, a multiracial city-state with a majority ethnic-Chinese population that is increasingly sympathetic to Beijing.

A 2022 survey of 19 countries by the Pew Research Center found that Singapore was one of only three that saw China and Xi in favorable terms. In June, the Eurasia Group Foundation released a survey conducted in Singapore, South Korea, and the Philippines that found Singapore was the only one that viewed China more favorably than it did the United States.

A professor at the National University of Singapore and a nonresident scholar at Carnegie China told the Washington Post that propagating a pro-China line that “doesn’t distinguish between the Chinese Communist Party state, Chinese culture, Chinese ethnicity creates confusion over self-identification and where loyalties should lie, especially at a time where friction between the PRC, the US and other US friends and allies in the region are increasing.”

That’s food for thought for us too. I have no doubt that most Filipino-Chinese, specially the younger ones, consider the Philippines as the only country they have and are loyal to Inang Bayan Pilipinas. But there are Filipino-Chinese organizations, mostly run by business people, being used by China to further Beijing’s interests here. Something we must be wary about.

I wonder if our intelligence community is too busy red tagging Filipino social activists, but are blind to the local supporters of the big communist country on the other side of the WPS who may be subverting our national security.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco