02 Mar 2005 06:06:09 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING, March 2 (Reuters) - China has pledged military assistance for the Philippines for the first time, underscoring its rising influence in a region traditionally dominated by the United States.
China had promised 10 million yuan ($1.2 million) worth of equipment, including engineering hardware, a source with knowledge of the deal said.
"We in the Philippines welcome China's increasing role in regional and international affairs," visiting Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said in a speech on Wednesday to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Romulo on Tuesday ratified a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation signed last November, an embassy official said.
"China is the new big brother...but the U.S. factor still remains," the source, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.
American troops pulled out of the Philippines, a former U.S. colony, in 1992. But the two countries maintain close ties and U.S. troops recently helped train Filipino forces in battling Muslim guerrillas in the south.
The United States would remain "the dominant player" in the region, said Shi Yinhong, who teaches international relations at Beijing's Renmin University.
In addition to military aid, China -- until recently a recipient of foreign aid in the wake of natural disasters -- had donated $250,000 to victims of typhoons that hit the Philippines last November and December, a Philippine Embassy newsletter said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told Romulo on Tuesday he hoped both countries would improve cooperation, Xinhua news agency reported.
China exported its Communist revolution to Asian neighbours, including the Philippines, in the 1960s, but bilateral relations have improved in recent years and Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit the Philippines in April.
China and the Philippines would hold a security dialogue in Manila as early as April, a diplomatic source said.
When Philippine President Gloria Arroyo visited Beijing last September, a landmark agreement was signed enabling national oil companies from both countries to conduct marine seismic tests near disputed islands in the South China Sea.
China is also poised to invest in the Philippine mining industry.
A Philippine delegation, led by the environment and trade secretaries, held a mining roadshow in Beijing in January and said it had won investment pledges in nickel and other mining projects worth $1.3 billion. The Philippines posted a trade surplus of $4.79 billion with China last year, with exports jumping 43.6 percent to $9.06 billion and imports surging 38 percent to $4.27 billion.
Thanks to Chinese technological support, the Philippines will attain rice and corn self-sufficiency by 2006 and 2010.
$1.2 million dollars will buy... 24 used humvees.
Must... resist... laughing...
Sorry but the Chinese are just way too cheap with their "aid".