No Strings Attached

Chinas aid and support to the Philippines have no strings attached， remarked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang at a routine news briefing on March 9 when asked about media reports that alleged conditions were attached to Chinas loans to the Philippines.

“China never has and never will ask relevant countries to put up natural resources as security for a loan，” Geng insisted. “Chinas aid and support to the Philippines have no strings attached.”

According to the spokesperson， China strongly supports Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes “Build， Build， Build” infrastructure campaign and has provided financing support.

Properly handling the South China Sea issue is still the basis and an important guarantee for the healthy and smooth development of China-Philippines relations， said Geng. However， China will isolate this issue from bilateral economic and trade cooperation projects.

“China is willing to work with the Philippines to implement the consensus reached between high-level leaderships of the two countries and properly handle disputes through dialogue and negotiations，” Geng added.