(Hot off the press) Unrequited love: Duterte’s embrace of China | Features

New book, Unrequited Love: Duterte’s China Embrace, exposes a web of betrayal that threatens our country’s sovereignty

Senator Risa Hontiveros calls the new book, Unrequited Love: Duterte’s China Embrace, a “damning record of the former president’s long-standing relationship with China.” Co-authored by prolific journalist and bestselling author Marites Vitug and award-winning multimedia journalist and author Camille Elemia for The New York Times and Radio Free Asia, the book unearths the origins and devastating consequences of the former president’s affection for China – an affection that has profoundly influenced the way our government functions today.

Using archival research and on-the-ground interviews, Vitug and Elemia construct a comprehensive and compelling story of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign policy shift toward China and his extraordinary efforts to cultivate and maintain that relationship during and even after his presidency, despite China’s blatant threats to our sovereignty. The book covers a long list of interconnected events: Duterte’s mutually beneficial dealings with powerful Filipino-Chinese individuals and mainland Chinese immigrants, two dubious deals during the pandemic, Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, the rise of Chinese propaganda activities, China’s unfulfilled promises for high-profile projects, and the tense encounters in the West Philippine Sea. The final part focuses on “The Pushback,” shedding light on the government entities that have turned against China. The epilogue describes another policy shift, this time by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., aiming for a stronger alliance with the United States.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the China turn and related issues. It is the product of years of hard-hitting journalism and reporting by two accomplished women. Marites Dañguilan Vitug has won awards and public recognition for her reporting on justice, politics, and security. A bestselling author, she has written several books on current Philippine events. She is currently the editor-in-chief of Rappler. Camille Elemia, on the other hand, is an award-winning multimedia journalist known for her investigative reporting on Philippine politics, China’s influence, and media and disinformation issues. She is a reporter for the New York Times and Radio Free Asia and its partner BenarNews, and was previously with Rappler and CNN Philippines.

Senator Risa Hontiveros also praised the journalistic work of the authors: “Vitug and Elemia have pieced together the puzzle and the story of the Duterte-China affair, an affair that is driven by personal agendas and political alliances and does not serve the national interest of our country.”

Ralph G. Recto, Secretary of the Treasury, considers the book to be “an eye-opening, thought-provoking and valuable addition to the sparse scholarly literature on a subject that has influenced the course of our history.” He also emphasizes that the book can serve as a guide for the present: “It is not only a chronicle of what was, but hopefully also of what can be, a way out of this nation’s greatest mystery.”

Unrequited Love is an important but difficult read, as the political conspiracies and betrayals exposed are hard to accept as true. Nevertheless, Aries A. Arugay, a professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of the Philippines, describes who will benefit most from reading this book: “While it will be a great resource for scholars, policymakers and students, I recommend it to every Filipino citizen whose duty it is to protect the national interest of the country.”

Unrequited Love: Duterte’s China Embrace is published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press under the imprint Bughaw. The book is available at the Ateneo University Press Bookshop in Bellarmine Hall, the publisher website, LazadaAnd Shopee Stores and selected Fully Booked branches.