people ties.
Media and public opinion. Governments play important role in generating strong national support and in enhancing bilateral ties by improving domestic and international perceptions. For instance, the Department of Foreign Affairs organized the “Chinese Me-dia Familiarization Tour” of the Philippines in August 2013. The event invited members of the Chinese media and acquainted them with Philippine history, politics, and foreign policy with the aim of enabling them to produce more accurate and balanced news about the country. Such an endeavor narrows the large gap in mutual perceptions between the two countries and their citizens.
Media exchanges and similar activities can be used to prevent political issues from spilling over to people-to-people relations. The Chinese government can call on its state-controlled media while the Philippine government can encourage its free press to empha-size other positive aspects of the bilateral relations and subsequently counterbalance hostile public perceptions and prevent public tensions from heating up. Ultimately, an enlightened and informed nation—rather than an antagonistically aroused public—can create a more cordial atmosphere for bilateral exchange.
Prospects for positive partnership
The predominance of political and security issues belie the vastness and multidimensional nature of Philippines-China relations. There are many opportunities for collaboration, cooperation, and exchanges that both countries can explore, if not reinforce. Ultimately, the goal is to prevent longstanding disputes from affecting existing and potential cooperative endeavors, especially in light of growing economic interdependence and deep cultural affinity between the two nations. Moreover, it behooves both the Philippine and Chinese governments to encourage more people-to-people exchanges and pave the way for greater public interaction. These efforts can serve as a strategic investment, one that would earn public goodwill enough to contain or defuse skepticism and enmity at the state level.
It is critical for the Philippines and China to prevent bilateral issues from straining the atmosphere for cooperation, and this means going beyond the tense and unconstructive cycle of “action-reaction” – the frequent provocation in contested maritime areas re-sulting in vehement and hostile protests. Overcoming contentious differences requires significant effort from both countries, which does not necessarily mean completely casting maritime conflicts and territorial issues aside, but simply taking them off the center* in order to create more opportunities to focus on other positive and productive areas of the relations.
Since it merely takes a hostile incident at sea to effect a reversion to mutual suspicion and mistrust, the Philippines and China must remember the enduring value of maintaining functional cooperation to sustain bilateral relations beyond the disputes. For the Philippines, China is a vital economic partner that it must constantly deal with to gain financial benefits for the sake of its national development. For China, the Philippines is an important nation that it must get along with to gain the trust and respect of other states in the region, particularly as it proves itself to be a responsible great power.
While protecting territorial sovereignty is paramount, a country must also work with other countries for other benefits and mutual gains. It is thus indispensable for the Philippines and China as neighbors to engage each other despite having diverging geopolitical and security concerns. Furthermore, such concerns ought to motivate the two countries to exercise restraint in dealing with salient issues and to develop greater, long-term bilateral cooperation.
