Scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is eyeing to warm the frosty relations between China and his country, days after spewing strong remarks against the U.S., the Philippines' long-time ally.
President Duterte's visit to China is seen as a move to "upend the delicate geopolitics of the South China Sea" as well as a gamble that could "reset the strategic calculus in Southeast Asia in his poor country's favour," wrote The Wall Street Journal.
China and the Philippines' ties have long been on the rocks amid the sea row dispute, where the former claims ownership of the South China Sea. Aside from the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam are also claiming maritime and island rights over some portions of the disputed area.
The Philippines scored the nod of an international tribunal, which scrapped China's maritime claims in a landmark ruling in July. The Chinese government has since affirmed its stance to snub the tribunal's decision, adding more tension to the Manila-Beijing relations.
Now more than a hundred days' old in the office, President Duterte is pursuing an alliance with China that is seen by some analysts as "strategically risky."
"It's a strange negotiating tactic," said Gregory Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in an interview with the WSJ. Poling added that the Philippine president is "unilaterally abandoning the only leverage he has over Beijing-the U.S. security umbrella."
For China, the Philippines' visit signals positive beginnings.
"The clouds are fading away. The sun is rising over the horizon and will shine beautifully on the new chapter of bilateral relations," said Zhao Jianhua, China's ambassador to Manila.
Earlier this month, China announced that it is looking to enhance its trade relations with the Philippines as it lifted its ban on some local fruits.
However, talks about the controversial sea row dispute are on the edge, with representatives from Manila saying the president should put it on the sidelines.
"They might pass upon or talk about general principles and framework... They might be able to talk generally about it, but I think the President has made it clear that maybe this is not the time to talk about resolving the dispute. The trip is for trust building first," Philippine foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay was quoted as saying by Manila-based news site The Inquirer.