https://qz.com/1116029/manilas-pivot-to-beijing-spells-peril-not-just-opportunity-for-chinese-filipinos/
Clinton PalancaNovember 10, 2017Improving ties. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)In 1417 the sultan of Sulu, now part of the southern Philippines, sailed to Chinato pay tribute to Zhu Di, the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. After the sultan fell ill and died unexpectedly on his way home, the emperor built an elaborate tomb for him in Dezhou, in Shandong province. In recent years that tomb was restored—with financial help from a Chinese-Filipino business leader—and last month trade and cultural groups marked the voyage’s 600th anniversary with a flurry of activities.Their efforts to play up historic ties between the two nations come amid growing mistrust in the Philippines of the nation’s ethnic Chinese, who comprise about 1% of the population but have an outsize influence over the economy. They are seen as midwives to China’s economic expansion in the region, and a pivot to Beijing by presi…
Clinton PalancaNovember 10, 2017Improving ties. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)In 1417 the sultan of Sulu, now part of the southern Philippines, sailed to Chinato pay tribute to Zhu Di, the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. After the sultan fell ill and died unexpectedly on his way home, the emperor built an elaborate tomb for him in Dezhou, in Shandong province. In recent years that tomb was restored—with financial help from a Chinese-Filipino business leader—and last month trade and cultural groups marked the voyage’s 600th anniversary with a flurry of activities.Their efforts to play up historic ties between the two nations come amid growing mistrust in the Philippines of the nation’s ethnic Chinese, who comprise about 1% of the population but have an outsize influence over the economy. They are seen as midwives to China’s economic expansion in the region, and a pivot to Beijing by presi…