Chinese withdrew from the Subic-Clark Railway project, the Philippines is now seeking funds !

Is it true? Dear viewers! Welcome back to our channel again! I’m very glad to discuss today’s topic with you: According to a report by the Nikkei Asian Review on July 29, Delfin Lorenzana, the director of the Philippine’s Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and former defense minister, stated that after the Chinese side “withdrew“ from the Subic-Clark Railway project, the Philippines is now seeking funds from Japan and the United States for this freight railway project worth 50 billion Philippine pesos (approximately 6.2 billion yuan). Lorenzana made the above remarks in an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review earlier this month. He said that the Philippine side is currently in contact and negotiation with Japanese and American companies as well as government financing institutions regarding this matter. This is also the reason why Joshua Bingcang, the president and CEO of BCDA, led an economic delegation to visit Tokyo in June, but they still “don’t know who the contributor will be“. Lorenzana gave an interview to the Nikkei Asian Review. It is said that the BCDA is specifically responsible for handling the reconstruction projects in the areas where the US military had bases before withdrawing from the Philippines in the early 1990s. Among them is the freight railway that connects Subic (where the US Navy base was located) and Clark (where the US Air Force base was located). The Subic-Clark Railway is planned in the central part of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, with a length of approximately 71 kilometers. It is intended to connect the two transportation hubs of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and Clark International Airport, and is also connected to the Northrail in the Philippines, claiming to promote the connectivity of the four cities on the island, namely Subic, Clark, Manila and Batangas. This railway project, which was regarded as part of the Philippine “flagship“ infrastructure plan “Luzon Economic Corridor“, was previously agreed to be funded by the Chinese side. However, Lorenzana jumped out and said, “Oh, the Chinese have withdrawn!“ The Nikkei Asian Review also quoted the Philippine government as saying that after the current Philippine President Marcos took office, the Chinese government gave up funding for three railway projects including the Subic-Clark Railway. In April this year, the leaders of the United States, Japan and the Philippines held the first trilateral summit in Washington. The joint vision statement after the meeting said that the leaders of the three countries agreed to carry out “actual investment“ in several fields of the Luzon Economic Corridor.