Editing Ferdinand Marcos (section)

===Switch from Taiwan to the People's Republic of China===
{{Main|Philippines–Taiwan relations|China–Philippines relations}}

Pre-Marcos, the Philippines had maintained a close relationship with [[Taiwan]]'s [[Kuomintang]]-ruled [[Republic of China]] (ROC) government. Prior administrations had seen the [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC) as a security threat, due to its financial and military support of communist rebels.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zhao|first=Hong|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23595518|title=Sino-Philippines Relations: Moving beyond South China Sea Dispute?|journal=Journal of East Asian Affairs|volume=26|issue=2|year=2012|pages=57–76|jstor=23595518|access-date=September 14, 2021|url-access=|issn=1010-1608|archive-date=September 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914214220/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23595518|url-status=live}}</ref>

By 1969, however, Ferdinand Marcos started publicly asserting the need for the Philippines to establish a diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China. In his 1969 State of the Nation Address, he said:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1969/01/27/ferdinand-e-marcos-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-january-27-1969/|title=Ferdinand E. Marcos, Fourth State of the Nation Address|date=January 27, 1969|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|publisher=Government of the Philippines|access-date=November 7, 2023|archive-date=May 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523184404/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1969/01/27/ferdinand-e-marcos-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-january-27-1969/|url-status=live}}</ref> {{blockquote|We, in Asia must strive toward a modus vivendi with Red China. I reiterate this need, which is becoming more urgent each day. Before long, Communist China will have increased its striking power a thousand fold with a sophisticated delivery system for its nuclear weapons. We must prepare for that day. We must prepare to coexist peaceably with Communist China.|Ferdinand Marcos|January 1969}}

In June 1975, President Marcos visited the PRC and signed a Joint Communiqué normalizing relations between the Philippines and China. Among other things, the Communiqué stated that "there is but one China and that Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory..." In turn, Chinese Prime Minister [[Zhou Enlai]] pledged that China would not intervene in the internal affairs of the Philippines nor seek to impose its policies in Asia, a move that isolated the local communist movement that China had financially and militarily supported.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://pascn.pids.gov.ph/files/Discussions%20Papers/1999/pascndp9916.pdf|title=The Political Economy of Philippines-China Relations|author=Benito Lim|journal=Discussion Paper|publisher=Philippine APEC Study Center Network|date=September 1999|access-date=September 21, 2016|archive-date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104015927/http://pascn.pids.gov.ph/files/Discussions%20Papers/1999/pascndp9916.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="web.stanford.edu">{{cite web|url=https://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/149|title=Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army – Mapping Militant Organizations|first=Daniel|last=Cassman|website=web.stanford.edu|access-date=September 18, 2021|archive-date=December 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230081441/https://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/149|url-status=live}}</ref>

''The Washington Post'', in an interview with former Philippine Communist Party officials, stated that, "they (local communist party officials) wound up languishing in China for 10 years as unwilling "guests" of the (Chinese) government, feuding bitterly among themselves and with the party leadership in the Philippines".<ref name="washingtonpost.com" />

The government subsequently captured NPA leaders Bernabe Buscayno in 1976 and Jose Maria Sison in 1977.<ref name="web.stanford.edu" />