The Curse
Chinese imperialism hinders industrialization ✏️ Glenn Junsay Pansensoy · 📁 National Affairs · ⏱️ 6 min read The Philippines' Resource Curse & the Weight of Chinese Imperialism The Philippines’ Resource Curse and the Weight of Chinese Imperialism The Philippines remains one of Asia’s most resource‑rich countries, yet it has failed to industrialize in a way that translates those riches into broad‑based, self‑sustaining development. Despite large nickel, copper, gold, and other mineral deposits, manufacturing has long been weak and is now in relative decline, a process that many Philippine‑based Marxist and anti‑imperialist analyses argue is aggravated by “Chinese imperialism” in trade, finance, and regional geopolitics. A nation rich in ore, poor in industry The Philippines sits on enormous nickel reserves and substantial copper, gold, and other metallic and non‑metallic minerals. These resources have long fed raw‑ma...