ABSTRACT
Philippine contentions about Philippines-China relations in recent years have exemplified the need for China expertise. The first knowledge source that is often sought regarding the state’s approach to its bilateral issues with China is the pool of experts in foreign relations, security, and economics. Aside from the government sector and business stakeholders, other major producers and consumers of China expertise include think tanks/nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academic units, and media. All these groups seek to exchange knowledge on China in response to a critical issue. While the salience of China knowledge need not be belabored, the evolution of such knowledge as a problematique needs elucidation. Two answers are foremost. First is the relatively expedient and practical usability of inputs when bilateral tension arises. That is, when there is a dearth of analytical response in certain aspects of the complex issue (e.g. integrated security-economic analysis), the nature of the expert knowledge production is queried. This practical use of China knowledge brings about both reactionary (i.e. how do we respond now?) and strategic (i.e. what needs to be done to build such critical knowledge) perspectives. Second is the contextualization of China knowledge as an epistemological reflection. The stance of the Philippines in analyzing and responding to China draws upon its stock of knowledge about it. While such a stance is a product of various social, political, economic, and historical dynamics, we accord keen attention on the knowledge of the thinkers who identify as China experts and the role of community in the generation of knowledge.
