FOR THE Filipino-Chinese community, last week is jam-packed with various activities as Manila and Beijing celebrate the 51st anniversary of Philippine-China diplomatic relations.
While territorial disputes continue to strain diplomatic relations between the two Asian nations, economic exchanges and people-to-people ties remain important pillars sustaining the relationship.
Speaking of people-to-people relations, I recently had an epiphany about a potential avenue for fostering greater mutual understanding between Filipinos and Chinese. In my view, China should place greater emphasis on certain episodes of its modern history. By “modern,” I refer to the period spanning the final years of the Qing dynasty up to the present. Specifically, I believe that several episodes of modern Chinese history parallel—and at times intersect with—the historical experience of the Filipino nation as a former colony and as part of the broader developing world.
When Filipinos think of Chinese history, their imagination often wanders to the mystical world of imperial dynasties populated by dragons, phoenixes, gods, monks, and other legendary figures. This perception is partly a consequence of the quality of social science education in the Philippines, which remains heavily centered on rote memorization and is further undermined by instances where history curricula at the basic education level are left unfinished by the end of the school year.
Although these elements of imperial China have successfully captivated foreign audiences, particularly in the West, they have done little to generate a positive image of China among the Filipino public.
To be sure, highlighting ancient China is useful in demonstrating that interactions between the Philippines and China predate the colonial era. However, an excessive reliance on these narratives also risks reinforcing the notion that Chinese history and culture are somehow detached from the Philippines’ own modern political history. Such an impression is misleading. The Philippines and China share important historical experiences, particularly as both nations underwent colonial subjugation as well as both countries share the same trajectories, being deeply intertwined with the broader development of East Asia.
In this regard, I believe that the following episodes of modern Chinese history deserve greater prominence and foregrounding in Philippine history classes and popular culture.
- Century of Humiliation. Similar to the Philippines, China was also a victim of Western colonization. The era of glorious Chinese dynasties spanning across millennia was ended by Western powers, especially the British Empire. With the defeat of the Qing dynasty also came the partition of China as Western powers grabbed their own shares of China’s concessional territories. This period, ranging from 1839 to 1949, is known in history as China’s Century of Humiliation.
Colonialism likewise occupies a central place in Filipino historical memory. Interestingly, the Philippines’ three former colonial rulers—Spain, the United States, and Japan—were also among the powers that acquired concessions and privileges in China during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- 1978 economic reforms. Much of China’s contemporary economic stature owes itself to the economic reforms in 1978 spearheaded by Deng Xiaoping. From a state-controlled economy, China opened certain segments of its economy for the private sector, which also includes foreign investors. These reforms were responsible for China’s current reputation as the factory of the world.
The decade of 1970s is also crucial to Philippine economic history. During this decade, the Philippines also further opened its economy by transitioning from its protectionist, import-substitution development model into an export-oriented industrialization development strategy. The Philippines’ transition towards export-led growth occurred not in isolation. The outcomes of such a transition did not occur in a vacuum but must be interpreted in the broader geoeconomic developments of that time.
In this regard, China played a particular role in shaping the success of the export-led growth strategy of the Philippines since the 1990s up to the present. In a previous column, I specifically argued that the domestic Chinese market provided a lifeline to the ailing traditional export sector of the Philippines, composed of agricultural and commodity producers, which are segments of export capital that failed to keep up with their non-traditional competitors in the electronics and semiconductor industry.
By highlighting these episodes, mutual understanding between Filipinos and Chinese can enter new territory. China has effectively emphasized the shared experience of colonialism in its engagement with African countries.
Why not employ a similar narrative in Southeast Asia, particularly in the Philippines, where anti-China sentiment remains widespread? Beyond shared colonial experiences, the untold stories of economic cooperation and interdependence between the two countries can also foster a greater sense of shared consciousness as both continue to navigate the contradictions of a neoliberal global economy long shaped by Western powers.
As Philippine-China relations mark their golden anniversary this year, strengthening people-to-people ties remains essential to sustaining the relationship despite persistent territorial disputes. To achieve this, both countries should move beyond the familiar narratives of imperial China and rediscover the modern historical experiences that Filipinos and Chinese have, in many ways, shared together.
