Former senator Nikki Coseteng shared her views on China and the growing relationship between the Philippines and China at the 13th Manila Forum on Philippine-China Relations on Dec. 11, 2024.
Coseteng, who has strong Chinese roots, talked about her personal experiences and how they shaped her understanding of China’s culture, progress and global influence.
She emphasized how challenging it is to truly understand China, noting that Western media often misrepresents the country with inaccurate or overly simplistic reports.
The former senator also highlighted that many in the western world don’t fully grasp China’s complexities and are hesitant to engage with it.
Coseteng, who is 75-percent Chinese, shared her family’s rich cultural background. Her father, Emerson Coseteng was full Chinese, while her mother was of mixed Filipino and Chinese descent.
Growing up, she was exposed to different languages and cultures, including Tagalog, English and the Fujian and Iloilo dialects. She also recalled how her Buddhist grandmother practiced traditional rituals at a temple in Tondo, Manila.
She noted how her grandfather, Jose Marquez Lim, one of the founders of Equitable Bank, taught her the values of hard work and business ethics, which she learned from a young age as the eldest grandchild.
She also discussed the changing global economy, particularly China’s rise. In her youth, American brands dominated the Philippines, but by the 1990s, Chinese-made products began to flood the market.
Today, Chinese companies like Huawei, Xiaomi and BYD lead in technology, and China’s high-speed trains can reach speeds of 350 km/h, soon to reach 500 km/h.
Coseteng also emphasized China’s rapid advancement in space exploration. She praised the Chinese space station as more beautiful than the International Space Station, and pointed out that despite initially being excluded from international space projects, China has proven its capabilities in space.
She also referenced a comment by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who explained why Apple opened factories in China. Cook noted that while the US has a large pool of skilled workers, China’s talent pool is even larger, with candidates filling two football fields.
