We need genuine partners, not bad neighbors

In any community, a good neighbor is one who respects the rights of others and ensures that the environment is stable and peaceful. One who bullies and takes advantage of others cannot be considered a good neighbor. Good neighbors work together and abide by the rules for the good of all.

These parameters are true whether we are talking about living spaces for individuals and families, or about nations’ access to global commons.

The global commons is a zone in which numerous countries share opportunities and risks alike. Here, the stakes are high because the issues transcend national boundaries: national security issues are closely intertwined with economic security.

The South China Sea (SCS) easily comes to mind when we talk about global commons. The various people living in this common space share sea lanes, trade routes, data connectivity avenues, supply chains, and critical mineral reserves.

Unfortunately, the SCS is now a virtual theater where a single country, in its selfish, expansionist tendencies, is exploiting the rights of others and resorting to various means in doing so. These acts not only affect the defense and security of other countries, but also their economic security.

Within SCS, for instance, in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), China continues to display intensified and increasingly regular illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive gray-zone tactics. These range from repeated ramming and the firing of powerful water cannons, the use of military-grade blinding lasers and dangerous blockade operations, the intimidation and harassment of our fisherfolk, and even the invasion of our cyber domains through propaganda and disinformation.

Each incident shows a blatant disregard for international law that is supposed to bind countries of the world and govern our conduct toward and among each other. Diplomatic protests filed by the Philippines do not seem to deter China, because every new incident betrays a growing boldness, arrogance, and entitlement—regardless of the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated China’s so-called nine-dash line.

China’s acts continue to undermine the rules-based international order and pose clear threats to the lives, livelihoods, and dignity of the people who depend on these waters.

It is not true, either, that China has been a synergistic partner to the Philippines over the years. The notion is that we benefit much from our trade relations with our giant neighbor.

In fact, our trade with China is so skewed toward imports, and this has resulted in a gaping trade deficit, which has harmed our economy more than it has benefited it. In contrast, we share much healthier trade balances with partners like the United States and Japan, our top export markets.

Filipinos have articulated their belief and position on this issue. A recent Pulse Asia national survey reinforced this shared national sentiment. Filipinos overwhelmingly trust the United States (77 percent), Japan (44 percent), Asean (29 percent), and Australia (26 percent) as key partners for economic security.

In sharp contrast, trust in China stands at 6 percent—a crushing indictment of Beijing’s escalating aggression and deceit. Filipinos have seen enough: the ramming of our boats, water-cannon attacks, laser harassment, coral destruction, and relentless intimidation of our fisherfolk.

Filipinos are not blind. A country that bullies us, makes false claims about us, and steals what is ours cannot be called a partner in the right sense of the word.

A similar Pulse Asia survey identified mainly the same partners in economic security as the ones Filipinos believe could help us in confronting coercion and aggression in the West Philippine Sea. These are the United States (77 percent), Japan (45 percent), Australia (30 percent, Canada (29 percent), and the United Kingdom (25 percent).

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Next year, the Philippines will assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. With the theme “Navigating Our Future Together,” the country has both the duty and the opportunity to lead by example, ensuring that discussions and agreements remain fair, rules-based, and genuinely beneficial for all.

Part of that leadership role is to provide platforms for principled discussions that help shape a region that resists coercion and defends collective prosperity.

Such platforms, similar to the Manila Dialogues in which the Philippines was an active participant, ensure continuing conversations about the issues that affect us directly and profoundly.

We are heartened by the fact that the Philippines can turn to its like-minded partners in facing up to bullying and aggression in the WPS, and in maintaining peace and stability in the global commons that we share.

This is a constant struggle given China’s behavior, but genuine partnerships, founded on shared commitments and on good faith, are also a constant source of strength.

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Dindo Manhit is the CEO and managing director of Stratbase Group.