At a recent Manila Times forum, former diplomat Roberto Romulo urged a more jaundiced view of the row between China and several South China Sea stakeholder countries, including his home:
Clearly China is unwilling to separate territorial dispute – or more specifically the filing of an arbitration case with the UN Permanent Arbitration Tribunal – from other aspects of our bilateral relations. On the ground, business to business dealings will be as normal as possibly can – as several of your speakers with such daily exposure to China will attest to. Imports and exports volumes may indeed expand – but a closer look at the composition of that trade shows that much of that momentum is generated by the global value chain – intermediate inputs from various countries assembled into final product in one country. More than half of our exports to China is made up of electronic components where trade is governed by multinationals. Where the Chinese government has a say – such as in the imports of bananas – it will have no hesitation to place sanctions when it sees an excuse to do so, never mind if it is flimsy. As far as Philippine imports from China are concerned, the authorities will not place any barrier on their businessmen making a buck and so its pace will be determined by demand from the Philippines. But even in the best of times, the Philippines still lagged behind its Asean partners in the volume of two-way trade ranking last among the Asean-5 with only a third of Malaysia’s total trade with China.More Here (Philippine Star)
Also:
No talk of Sea Row at Beijing APEC Summit
People's Daily: South China Sea Calmer Than it Appears
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