Waltzing with Goliath: Philippines-China Engagement in Uncharted Waters

Abstract

To some observers, relations between the Philippines and China appear to have gone through a 180-degree transformation in the last 12 years. Many who remember China’s show of muscle in the disputed islands in the South China Sea and the vehemence of Philippine opposition to such Chinese assertions of sovereignty in the mid- to late 1990s would be surprised at how the Philippines and China now seem to sing only paeans to their good relations and favorable prospects.

1. Aileen San Pablo — Baviera is Professor and Dean of the Asian Center at the University of the Philippines. The author is grateful to Tang Shiping, Ho Khai Leong, and Joseph Liow for comments on an earlier draft of this paper.