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There is no talk of the West Philippine Sea, but the Philippine President takes the chance to discuss with the Chinese premier the United States tariffs
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. talked to Chinese Premier Li Qiang about the unilateral tariffs the second Trump administration is imposing, the Philippine leader told the media on Tuesday, May 27.
Marcos made the disclosure in a briefing with traveling Philippine media upon the conclusion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Malaysia.
United States President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs was a major point of discussion among bloc members in Kuala Lumpur. The ASEAN Summit in Malaysia also featured meetings with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as well as the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China summit.
Economic cooperation between the blocs and the Asian superpower was a major issue during the May 2025 summit. The sweeping tariffs have shocked the region, particularly countries like Cambodia, which the US imposed a 49% rate on before Trump hit pause on those rates.
Marcos recalled a quick exchange of views with Li on the sidelines of lunch. Recalling their talk on the tariffs, Marcos said: “He says, ‘Well, we do not want any of this.’ They don’t want this war. And I said, ‘We’re very worried because China is the biggest economic driver in the region.’ And, of course, we watch very closely what is happening to the economy in China because it affects all of us.”
“Because once again, we trade with China. We have many investments in China and we have many Chinese investments in the Philippines. So, talagang kung makita mo wala namang – walang – kung matuloy itong regime na unilaterally imposed, talagang babagsak. It has a global effect and it is not going to be a good one,” added Marcos.
(If this regime pushes through and is unilaterally imposed, everything will fall down.)
The Philippines was set to get a 17% rate, among the lowest in the region. The Marcos administration has been trying to negotiate against that unilateral imposition.
Malaysia, as ASEAN chair, had earlier gathered economic managers to talk about Trump’s tariffs. “But if everybody is down, then everybody’s markets will shrink. So this is a – it’s a real problem,” said Marcos.
“So, that I think was a very good initiative by PM Anwar. And I think it – I…Even if we do not – kahit na hindi tayo makabuo ng [reach an] agreement, ASEAN-GCC, this is a big opportunity for member countries of GCC, member countries of ASEAN, to interact and to find ways to find some things to do. The same thing with China,” added Marcos.
During the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit, Marcos said he sees “a future shaped not by competition, but by collaboration, especially given our shared values, shared aspirations, and our shared growth.”
Marcos and China
The Philippine President’s short interaction with Li is the first of its kind in a long time. As tensions continue to rise in the South China Sea, high-level interactions between the Philippines and China have been few and far between.
The last time Marcos met his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, was for a quick pull-aside meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November 2023.
In recent years, it’s been Li who has attended ASEAN meetings on behalf of Beijing.
China is among the Philippines’ biggest trading partners.
As expected, tensions in the West Philippine Sea, or part of the South China Sea that includes the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, was not a topic of discussion between Marcos and Li.
“I think, yes, it – you can see that it – it is sincere on their part that they do not want this. They do not want this to carry on. They want everything to be normalized,” said Marcos, again recalling his exchange with Li.
Discussions on the West Philippine Sea have been primarily made through Bilateral Consultation Mechanism meetings by senior diplomats. The Philippines’ lead for these meetings, Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro, is set to be Marcos’ next foreign affairs chief. – Rappler.com
