VACARO, PATRICK L.

BS. CRIMINOLOGY
CCR2B5

Module 4 Assignment 1
Using both printed and electronics media, research on the current relationship between
China and the Philippines. Consider the economic, political, and social factors. Discuss the
impact of Chinese culture on contemporary Philippine society and compare it with the impact of
Chinese culture on 19th century Philippines.

1. Using both printed and electronics media, research on the current relationship between
China and the Philippines. Consider the economic, political, and social factors. Discuss the
impact of Chinese culture on contemporary Philippine society and compare it with the impact of
Chinese culture on 19th century Philippines. (Use PDF file) When the Philippine government
declared quarantine measures to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, China immediately
offered its assistance and unwaveringly expressed its willingness to cooperate with the
Philippines. IN one of his public statements, President Rodrigo Duterte thanked China for
supporting the Philippines in its battle against the infectious disease. Duterte also dismissed
rumors that the novel coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory, which was the same
conclusion reported by the World Health Organization, top Western scientists and even the
United States Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. Counting on China’s helping hand,
Duterte has even urged Beijing to prioritize the Philippines once it develops an antibody against
the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Upon request of the Philippine government, Beijing
quickly responded by sending to Manila 12 members of its Anti-Epidemic Medical Expert Team
on April 5 in order to support the Philippines in its battle against Covid-19.The Chinese
Ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, said China deployed its medical team to the
country in order to “exchange experience and practice, with the aim to further improve the
Philippines’ epidemic prevention and control policies and enhance the diagnosis, treatment and
executive ability.” Most members of this medical team had their frontline experiences in Wuhan
of China’s Hubei province. Aside from the medical team — which already left on April 19 after
two weeks of engaging with Filipino health officials and experts in the Department of Health
(DoH), Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), Lung Center and Philippine General
Hospital and the public in an online Q&A session — China also donated medical supplies to the
Philippines in the form of 102,000 test kits, 400,000 surgical masks, 40,000 medical N95 masks,
15,000 medical protective suits, 5,000 medical face shields and 30 non-invasive ventilators.
Moreover, it assisted the Philippines in purchasing around 10,000 cubic meters of anti-epidemic
supplies and “a large amount of medicine,” not to mention donations coming from China’s
private big corporations and local authorities. The Philippines also requested the assistance of
China to prioritize the delivery of the Beijing Genomics Institute laboratory equipment worth
$2.5 million (around126.9 million), which arrived on April 22, to help fast-track the much-
needed testing of Filipinos. Several enterprises and civil society groups, such as Jack Ma
Foundation, Hong Kong Prudential Enterprise, Huawei Corp., Bank of China, and Panhua Group,
also donated large quantities of medical supplies, including millions of personal protective
equipment (PPE), to the Philippines. China’s local authorities like Fujian, Hainan, Shandong,
Guangzhou, Nanning, and others donated large quantities of medical supplies to their
corresponding sister provinces and cities in the Philippines like Ilocos Norte, Manila, Cebu City
and Davao City. The Covid-19 pandemic provided opportunities for the Philippines and China
to strengthen bilateral ties despite China’s low popularity ratings in the Philippines compared
with the United States and Japan. IN fact, China’s low popularity in the Philippines,
notwithstanding Beijing’s efforts to deepen friendship with Manila, is posing a challenge in
Philippines-China relations. In the latest survey of Social Weather Stations in September 2019,
70 percent of Filipino respondents expressed strong worries about China, particularly in the
context of the surge of Chinese working in the Philippines. The same survey said 78 percent of
the respondents regarded Philippine relationship with the United States as more important than
that with China. Opposition forces in the Philippines even doubted China’s sincerity in helping
the Philippines in the time of Covid-19 pandemic because of China’s continuing activities in the
South China Sea. China recently named 25 islands and reefs in the South China Sea in its efforts
to bolster its territorial claims. In mid-February 2020, a Chinese Navy ship pointed its fire control
radar at a Philippine Navy ship conducting routine patrol at Commodore Reef. This prompted
the Philippine government to file a diplomatic protest with China on April 22, 2020 over the
incident and for China’s current move to include parts of Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in one of
the new districts of Sansha city of Hainan province. Amid the pandemic and recent
developments in the South China Sea, one Philippine senator demanded China to cover the
Philippine government’s expenses in responding to Covid-19 as payment for China’s alleged
destruction of Philippine reefs in the KIG. But the Chinese Embassy in Manila responded.