The Philippines can cooperate with China on climate action and investments while maintaining its firm stance on the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said Tuesday.
In a chance interview on the sidelines of the US-Philippines Society forum, Romualdez said Manila’s relationship with Beijing cannot be defined solely by maritime disputes.
“We have a lot of Filipino Chinese businessmen who have a lot of investments in China, and I think that they’ve been doing very well. And we’d like to see some Chinese investments coming into the Philippines like we had before,” he said.
Romualdez said the government is recalibrating ties with China with a focus on economic engagement.
“We’re fine-tuning our relationship with China, and I think it’s important that we do that. So, what specifically can change in this new fine-tuning of the relationship? A lot of it will be based on economic cooperation,” he added.
He cited potential areas of cooperation such as climate change, alternative energy, trade, and manufacturing, stressing the need for a practical and pragmatic approach to international relations.
“We’re not going to stop calling it out, but like I said, it cannot be that the entire relationship is based purely on that conflict. We’ve been encouraged by many countries that are doing the same,” Romualdez said, referring to the WPS issue.
The envoy also underscored that, as the Philippines holds the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, Manila is advancing the bloc’s initiatives while pushing for the long-delayed Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.
“We are the chair of ASEAN, and we’d like the participation of China to be significant, especially in the Code of Conduct. Who knows? We might be able to finally nail it down after more than 20 years,” Romualdez said.
On January 29, Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro said ASEAN counterparts welcomed the positive momentum in the COC negotiations, with all sides aiming to conclude the talks within the year.
Lazaro noted that ASEAN and China have invested significantly in the negotiations, which have been ongoing for nearly 17 years.
Senior officials from the Philippines and China also held discussions on the sidelines of the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting in Cebu, marking the resumption of COC talks after a hiatus of more than a year.
In 2023, ASEAN and Chinese foreign ministers adopted guidelines to accelerate the conclusion of the COC, agreeing to finalize it within three years.
