Association for Philippines- China Understanding

10/06/2026

APCU @ 50 Coffee Table Book – Now Available!

Celebrate five decades of friendship, leadership, and shared prosperity with the APCU @ 50: Building Bridges to Prosperity Coffee Table Book.

This beautifully crafted commemorative edition captures the rich history, milestones, and enduring partnership that have strengthened Philippines–China understanding over the past 50 years. A perfect keepsake for members, supporters, partners, and collectors.

📖 APCU Coffee Table Book
💰 Only ₱1,200

✨ A timeless tribute to 50 years of building bridges to prosperity.

For orders and inquiries, please contact APCU Secretariat:

Lara Pace
📱 0976 025 2788

Get your copy today and own a piece of APCU's golden legacy.

05/06/2026

18/05/2026

Announcement of Winners of the 2026 Awards for Promoting Philippines - China Understanding

17/05/2026

11/05/2026

Japan Militarism: Analyst warns defense export shift could fuel regional arms race

Japan's military expansion, including the easing of restrictions on lethal weapons exports, has raised concerns over its postwar security posture. Geopolitical analyst Anna Malindog-Uy says the decision also risks greater militarization across Asia.

ANNA MALINDOG-UY Geopolitical Analyst "It marks Japan's shift from being mainly a security supporter to becoming a more active defense industrial and strategic supplier in Asia. Allowing exports of lethal systems, including warships, missiles, drones, and destroyers, weakens the post-war restraint on Japan. It can provoke what you call arms race in the region and without diplomatic guardrails, so-called, you know, and it could accelerate what you call an ASEAN arms buildup and raise the risk of miscalculation on the ground. The key danger is not Japanese export alone. It is – but it's the combination of the militarized dispute, historical mistrust, alliance signaling, and weak crisis management mechanism that we have actually in the region even within the ASEAN context."

To WATCH the interview, click the link below:

Link:

Japan's military expansion, including the easing of restrictions on lethal weapons exports, has raised concerns over its postwar security posture. Geopolitical analyst Anna Malindog-Uy says the decision also risks greater militarization across Asia.

09/05/2026

From ODA to OSA: Japan’s Warship Diplomacy Comes to Manila
HEADSIGHT
By Anna Malindog-Uy
May 9, 2026

JAPAN’s security courtship of the Philippines carries a deep historical irony. During World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded and occupied the country, leaving behind memories of massacres, forced labor, repression, destruction, displacement, and the sexual enslavement of Filipino “comfort women.” Yet in the postwar era, Japan returned not as an occupier, but as a leading development partner. Through the Official Development Assistance (ODA), it financed major infrastructure, transport, disaster resilience, and socioeconomic projects, becoming the Philippines’ largest ODA source in 2024 at $13.23 billion. The transformation is striking: The former wartime aggressor recast itself as a builder, donor, and strategic partner.

But Japan’s role is shifting again. Today, Japan is still coming to Manila, but now with radars, patrol assets, access agreements, logistics pacts, possible destroyer transfers, and missile exercises. Under its new Official Security Assistance (OSA) framework, Tokyo now provides security-related equipment and infrastructure to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and related institutions, distinct from traditional ODA for economic and social development. This is not a small policy adjustment. This is a strategic transformation. Thus, the arc of Japan-Philippines relations has moved from invasion to reconstruction partnership to security cooperation.

This transition is geopolitically significant and historically delicate. Japan is no longer only building bridges, railways, and roads in the Philippines; it is now also a military arms supplier and security partner, citing Manila’s need for deterrence capability against China amid South China Sea (SCS) tensions. But for victims’ groups and nationalist critics, the sight of Japan returning to a military role raises an uncomfortable question: Has history truly been reconciled or forgotten, or is strategic urgency simply outrunning historical memory?

To continue reading, click the link below:

TMT Link:

JAPAN’s security courtship of the Philippines carries a deep historical irony. During World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded and occupied the country, leaving behind memories of massacres, forced labor, repression, destruction, displacement, and the sexual enslavement of Filipino “comf...

07/05/2026

Folks, sharing my interview with CGTN

Expert: Japan's 'defensive' shift raises alarms in the region
Video21:53, 23-Apr-2026

Professor Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, a Philippine geopolitical expert, highlights a troubling shift in Japan's defense posture, saying that Japan's missile deployment isn't truly defensive and marks a shift from pure defense to "proactive deterrence" – including strikes beyond its territory. Seen regionally as a containment strategy, it risks accelerating an arms race. "Regionally speaking, this is very offensive," and she warns that the shift poses a deepening security dilemma for the region.

To WATCH the interview, click the link below:

CGTN Link: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-04-23/Expert-Japan-s-defensive-shift-raises-alarms-in-the-region--1MA9sEBeAGA/p.html

07/05/2026

Hello folks, sharing my interview with CGTN.

Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, Vice-President for External Affairs and Director of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute, noted that the ongoing ASEAN summit is a very important meeting amid the current crisis in the Middle East. She believes that in the face of the current geopolitical and economic crisis, China serves as a "short-term lifeblood" for ASEAN countries in terms of energy and food. China offers the "Global South," including the Philippines, a different model for development and progress from that of the West. Many countries look to China as a source of inspiration for development and a model of progress.

To WATCH the interview, click the link below:

CGTN Link:

Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, vice president of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute, noted that the ongoing ASEAN summit is a very importan...

14/02/2026

Welcome to The Year of the Horse!

You are invited to the opening ceremony of Chibog Chow! Free entry to our Chinese New Year Celebration! Chibog Na!

Feb 21
2:00 -2:30PM Shaolin Show and Changing Mask Presented by Association for
Philippines-China Understanding and Philippine Shaolin Cultural Center

Feb 22
4:00 -4:30PM Shaolin Show and Changing Mask Presented by Association for
Philippines-China Understanding and Philippine Shaolin Cultural Center