The state visit to Beijing by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in January 2023 did not yield the momentum for bilateral ties that his predecessor’s trip in 2017 did. Barely one month after the state visit, there was a flareup in the South China Sea (SCS) with the Chinese coastguard’s lasing of its Philippine counterpart off Second Thomas Shoal.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has completed the 10 day long Exercise Aman Youyi 2023 (Peace and Friendship 2023) joint military exercise which also featured Cambodian, Lao, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese forces.