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China, Philippines to Stay Friends despite Boat Collision in Disputed Sea

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI - China and the Philippines will sustain a friendship of three
   years despite a risky mishap in a disputed sea because each side values
   the other for political or economic reasons, analysts believe.

   The Philippines is getting investment and other aid from Beijing to pay
   for $169 billion in infrastructure renewal, while China sees strong
   ties with the Philippines as a way to stop Manila and more powerful
   allies such as the United States from trying to stop its maritime
   expansion.
   "The president is very much pro-China," said Antonio Contreras,
   political scientist at De La Salle University in the Philippines,
   referring to Rodrigo Duterte in Manila. "His statements are very much
   easing China in a way. At the level of relations, I don't think it will
   change, especially at the policy level."

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