Why Philippines wants Canada’s help to avoid China, U.S. ‘great power rivalry’

Manalo visited Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa this month to mark 75 years of bilateral relations, meeting with federal ministers for trade, immigration, aid and diplomacy.

The foreign minister of the Philippines wants closer business and military ties with Canada, saying the two countries can help maintain the post-war order in the Indo-Pacific by maintaining peaceful relations with both the U.S. and China.

“The future of our region should not be determined by the great power rivalry,” Enrique Manalo, the secretary of foreign affairs for the Philippines said in an interview last week.

“Today’s world is a lot different than it was after the Second World War, when you had a clear distinction between the West and the East. Now, you have a much more competitive world — and our relationships are more complex.”

Manalo visited Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa this month to mark 75 years of bilateral relations, meeting with federal ministers for trade, immigration, aid and diplomacy.

His goal is to keep up the momentum that followed the Liberals’ release of their Indo-Pacific strategy in late 2022.

“Our relationship has really grown in the past two years, compared to where it was, let’s say, five or 10 years ago,” said Manalo.

His visit came amid heightened tensions between the Philippines and China over maritime boundaries.

A global court ruled in 2016 that Beijing’s claims over a large swath of the South China Sea lacked a legal basis, a finding the Chinese government disputes.