Philippine-Chinese trade goes a long way backn dating several centuries before the two Asian neighbors engaged in its ongoing territorial dispute. With the Philippines' elevation of the issue to a United Nations arbitration panel in Netherlands, China opted to flex its economic muscles to make its sentiments known to Manila by excluding the Philippines in the proposed Maritime Silk Road.

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There had been commercial and cultural exchange between the two nations that goes all the way back to the T'ang Dynasty, which is from the 7th to the 9th century AD. The trade ties continued through the Sung Dynasty, which ran from 960 to 1127 AD, with Philippine products entering China through the port of Canton, while there were Chinese ports in Philippine coastal areas to serve as entry point for Chinese imports.

Philippine Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Laura del Rosario admits on the sideline of the ongoing APEC Summit in Beijing that Manila feels alone because the expected support from other Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei, that are also in a territorial conflict with the Asian giant did not materialize.

Vietnam, which Manila expected to join its UN action, has opted to settle the score with Beijing through dialogues, with no less than Chinese President Xi Jinping declaring the advance of diplomatic relations between the two countries despite some thorny issues on the side.

On May 2, China deployed an oil rig to disputed waters that lie along a vital shipping route. All that is now considered water under the bridge after Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang declared the country would opt for friendly consultations in resolving the issue with China.

Likewise, China has agreed to shelf its battle with Japan over some islands on the East China Sea, which led to the Monday meeting between Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In the case of the Philippines, China's nine-dash line hits the Philippine exclusive economic zone based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Chinese maps have shown that the old maritime silk route included some stops at several Philippine ports as well as in Singaporean, Indonesian, and Sri Lankan ports, although China has not explicitly stated the exclusion of the Philippines from the new maritime route for which China allocated $40 billion funds.

Manila and Beijing are waiting for the result of the UN body, in which results are expected by 2015 in time with the Philippines' hosting of another APEC Summit.