Taiwan should boost its relationship with Manila by leveraging its links to Japan and the US, a foreign policy expert said on Thursday, shortly after Ferdinand Marcos Jr was sworn in as president of the Philippines.
Marcos is expected to follow former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s Taiwan policy, which focused on issues concerning trade and Philippine workers in Taiwan, National Chengchi University professor of international affairs Chen Wen-chia (陳文甲) said.
The new administration’s appointment of former Philippine minister of labor and employment Silvestre Bello as head of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan suggests that those priorities would be top of the agenda, Chen said.
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Marcos appears to be reluctant to incur China’s ire, as Taiwanese officials were not invited to his inauguration, Chen said, adding that Taipei’s opportunities to boost ties with the Philippines would be limited.
However, there might be chances to improve economic links, as Marcos needs to revive the Philippine economy and could not afford to pass on Taiwanese investment, Chen added.
The Philippines has consistently demonstrated willingness to do business with Taiwan, he said, adding that the two sides in 2017 inked an investment agreement.
That Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (王岐山) and US Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, attended Marcos’ swearing-in is a manifestation of the competition between Washington and Beijing for influence in the Philippines, Chen said.
The US is seeking to contain the threat of China’s hegemonic expansion via diplomatic, military and economic means in accordance with the Indo-Pacific Strategy, to which the Philippines is crucial, he said.
The US continues to deploy military forces at bases throughout the Philippines and is seeking to bolster its relationship with the Philippine Coast Guard to counter Beijing, he said, adding that the coast guard arrangements are being facilitated by Japan.
The Philippines has geopolitical advantages that it uses deftly to emphasize its independence among rival blocks, enabling Manila to separate trade policies from geopolitical directives, Chen said.
As Manila’s successful bid to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework showed, the Philippines does not allow its trade ties with China to interfere with its national security policy of aligning with the US, Chen added.
Therefore, Taiwan should leverage its ties with Tokyo and Washington to improve its relationship with the Philippines, he said.
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