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Moving closer to China and Russia does not evoke much resistance inside the country, with the exception of various academics and US-backed and trained high-ranking military staff. Oligarchs and the elites are also generally loyal to the West.
In February 2020 I flew to Puerto Princesa, which is the nearest city to the disputed Spratly Islands. Puerto Princesa International Airport shares a runway with the air force base, but I detected no military aircraft during my visit. All was quiet. No tension whatsoever.
I spoke to several local citizens, and not one of them expressed any concern about the proximity of China, or about China's foreign policy towards the Philippines.
Allison, a local student, explained:
"China is a good country. We never have any real problems with it. I don't know much about the Spratly issue, but here we don't worry about it at all."
Norman, who works at the SM mall:
"I have no issue with China. Russians do not come here, so I wouldn't know. America has joint military exercises with us for a long time. There have been a lot of them here at Puerto Princesa, for some period of time."
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