OVERCOMING ROADBLOCKS TO THE NEW SILK ROAD - HOW CHINA CAN WIN OVER THE FILIPINO PEOPLE BY FOLLOWING JAPAN’S INVESTMENT STRATEGIES IN VIETNAM

Abstract

While news outlets have been discussing the cooling of trade relations between the People’s Republic of China (“China”) and the United States (“U.S.”), there is a warmer reception for China on the other side of the world: the Republic of the Philippines (“Philippines”). The answer as to why the Philippines is welcoming, even after winning in an arbitration against China regarding control of the South China Sea, 1 lies in one word: “DuterteNomics.”2 The Philippines government introduced this term to describe President Rodrigo Duterte’s (“Duterte”) economic programs and policies for bringing Philippines to the forefront of economic growth in Southeast Asia.3 Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar discussed a main program of DuterteNomics called the Build Build Build Infrastructure Plan (“BBB”), which is meant “to [solve the puzzle] on how to grow the economy, reduce poverty and [ease] congestion in Metro Manila.”4 It appears that the final puzzle piece lies with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, also called the One Belt One Road Initiative (“BRI”).5 China’s ambitious BRI has received mixed reviews since it is viewed with either optimism or deep suspicion in the international community. 6 On September 7, 2013, President Xi Jinping (“Xi”) gave a speech at Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev University, where he underscored how the ancient Silk Road was now full of new vitality with the rapid development of China’s relations with Asian and European countries to enhance mutual trust, consolidate friendship, and strengthen cooperation by moving towards the common development and prosperity of the people of these regions.7 The goals of the BRI are “to promote [an] orderly and free flow of economic factors, highly efficient allocation of resources and deep integration of markets by enhancing connectivity of Asian, European and African continents and their adjacent seas.”8 Xi succinctly described the BRI’s mission: “A near neighbor is better than a distant relative . We need to pass our friendship from generation to generation and always be good neighbors living in harmony.