A small and weak nation can defeat a big and strong
nation,” thundered the Communist Party of China way back in 1970 in a
scathing commentary on the Vietnam War that by then had been tilting in
favor of the Vietnamese as broad antiwar sentiment forced Washington to
de-escalate the war and later agree to multilateral peace talks. Despite
the technological superiority of American forces, the Vietnamese
finally overran Saigon in 1975, paving the way for the unification of
North and South Vietnam.
China’s current
leadership, however, apparently forgets the lessons of history and has
more and more resorted to bullying smaller nations in this part of the
world in a bid to assert regional hegemony.
Chinese
bullying has become glaringly evident in its response to recent
Philippine efforts to accost eight Chinese fishing boats for poaching
marine life in Scarborough Shoal. The Chinese fishing boats had actually
collected a big number of endangered species. However, two Chinese
surveillance ships stopped the Philippine Navy flagship, the BRP
Gregorio del Pilar, from carrying out its legitimate duty to patrol
Philippine waters. Thus, the tense standoff that persists to this day.
Beijing
cites history dating to as far back as 2,000 years ago for its claim to
the Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Group of Islands. It also
submitted to the United Nations in 2009 a map drawn up in 1947 that
contains a “nine-dash line” that is supposed to delineate its maritime
borders. But the shoal is about 230 kilometers from the
main island of Luzon, while the nearest Chinese land mass is Hainan
province, 1,200 km to the northwest, according to Philippine naval maps.
The
Chinese historical claim, therefore, stands on shaky legal ground.
Moreover, it runs contrary to the exclusive economic zones defined by
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, or Unclos.
Far
more worrying is China’s bellicose attitude in backing up its
territorial claim. The Global Times, a newspaper run by China’s ruling
Communist Party, issued a warning in an editorial last weekend of a
potential “small-scale war” to end the Scarborough Shoal standoff. “Once
the war erupts, China must take resolute action to deliver a clear
message to the outside world it does not want a war, but definitely has
no fear of it,” the editorial said.
This
belligerence toward the Philippines and other claimant countries is
uncalled for, and raises serious doubts about China’s claim of “peaceful
rising.”
The
Philippines should continue to assert sovereignty over the Spratlys by
deploying our Navy and Coast Guard vessels to patrol the area as proof
of our determination to assert national sovereignty.
At
the same time, the government should seek a diplomatic solution to the
impasse. It is on the right track in asking partners in the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations to take a stand on the territorial dispute.
President
Aquino has indicated that the Scarborough issue would be formally
raised in talks between Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario and
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and their US counterparts Hillary
Clinton and Leon Panetta in Washington next week.
While
this move could further anger China, which insists that the United
States should have no role in the dispute, this is the right thing to do
amid China’s warmongering.
The
Philippines should stand pat on its absolute and indisputable
sovereignty over Panatag and other islands in the Spratlys even as it
seeks international support for its stand based on Unclos.
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The Business Mirror | April 24, 2012 | Article Link
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