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2 Asian Allies Reweigh Their China Ties as Territorial Disputes Grow

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI - A summit this week between leaders of Pacific Rim allies South
   Korea and the Philippines is expected to show that both lean toward the
   West rather than China despite their efforts to get along with Asia's
   superpower, analysts say.

   A swing toward the West by either country would put Beijing further on
   the back foot in Asia, where its military expansion alarms multiple
   governments, and give the United States a new opening to get involved
   in the region, scholars believe.

   Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on his office's website
   November 20 he will meet his Korean counterpart at an Association of
   Southeast Asian Nations-South Korea summit in Busan Monday through
   Wednesday. Asian security issues will lead discussion, it said.

   "The Philippines and Korea both have been fairly accommodating of
   China, because Korea given its proximity and Duterte because he wanted
   to make the best deals," said Jeffrey Kingston, history instructor at
   Temple University's Japan campus.

   Now, he said, "both of them are countries that feel concerned about the
   rise of China. Both feel threatened."

   Ties with China

   Duterte broke ice with China in 2016 by setting aside a maritime
   sovereignty dispute and accepting pledges of $24 billion in Chinese
   aid, key to his country's infrastructure renewal effort. But Chinese
   activity in the disputed South China Sea including a boat collision
   earlier this year is worrying Filipinos again.

   South Korea spars with China over ties with North Korea. The north, a
   Chinese ally, periodically tests missiles near the south, and in 2017
   Beijing condemned the south for installing an advanced antimissile
   system. Chinese officials feared the U.S.-backed system could monitor
   activity in China.

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