By Federico D. Pascual Jr.
The Philippine Star
The Philippine Star
CLARK FIELD (PLDT/WeRoam) — Caught in a dispute with China over some islets off Palawan and nearby waters, Filipinos might find it useful to view bilateral relations on three levels, i.e. according to the System, the State and the Individual.
Mention of these three approaches to the issues may not register with the mass reader, or possibly even with some officials attempting to manage the emerging China problem, so let us put it another way:
The government/State does not always speak for the people/Individual.
When a haughty Beijing scolded Manila and lectured about not messing with its territorial claims, that was just them officials. That was the State talking, not the Individual Chinese.
* * *
BELLIGERENCE: The Chinese government sounds so belligerent that the uninitiated may think it is priming itself to go to war over the Spratlys and a scattering of islets in the South China Sea (or the West Philippine Sea, depending on which map you are reading).
Still, it is safe to assume that despite the bellowing of their government (operating on the level of the State), the Chinese people (on the level of the Individual) really mean no harm toward their Filipino neighbors who, over the centuries, have been their trading partners.
We assume that, like us, the Chinese people simply want to improve the quality of their lives without much distraction by their government’s claims over islets that are more than 570 miles from the Chinese shoreline.
In our dialogues, whether bilateral or multilateral, we must emphasize that however offensive are the statements or actions of our respective governments, on the people-to-people level we are still friends — and that we intend to remain so.
* * *
DEFEND OUR SEAS: For a while, I was hooked by the suggestion of a governor from Bicol for us Filipinos to retaliate and boycott Chinese products if only to demonstrate our displeasure over the expansionist moves and insulting remarks of Beijing.
Small as we are compared to the fire-breathing Chinese dragon, our national pride will not allow unwarranted threats and insults to pass unanswered.
The 200-mile exclusive economic zone we have drawn around our archipelago under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) will be meaningless if we are not ready to defend it.
But before we could unsheathe our bolos and fight to the last barangay tanod, President Noynoy Aquino told us to cool it. He reminded us that there are more pacific paths using diplomacy and dialogue.
* * *
US CAVALRY: Thank God, the President stepped in before we could strike a fighting stance. It would have been embarrassing to borrow, or lease on credit, warships, jet fighters and all those modern armaments to match the mighty Chinese army.
We are grateful also to Uncle Sam, who in the grand tradition of the US Cavalry rushed to our rescue just in time.
From its home port in Pearl Harbor, the US Navy’s guided missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon steamed toward Manila ostensibly with orders to come to the succor of this former US colony if its Spratly spat with China escalates into an exchange of fire.
We are reminded of December 1989 when F-4 jet fighters scrambled from this US base and shooed away Tora-Tora planes of coup plotters (led by unrepentant colonel, now senator, Gringo Honasan) poised to strafe/bomb Malacañang where then President Cory Aquino was holding her ground.
* * *
MIGHT IS RIGHT: The US embassy said, and Malacañang cooed in agreement, that the USS Chung-Hoon was coming to participate in a joint exercise to test the right of innocent passage in the waters that happen to be near the disputed areas in the Spratlys.
There was really no need to explain the warship’s rushing over since in this dog-eat-dog world, might is right. Even the Chinese, despite their holding the biggest slice in the US foreign debt of $14 trillion, know that.
To erase any doubt about intentions, US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. said more clearly in a followup speech in a public function the other day that his government was standing by its friend and ally in its territorial disputes, specifically mentioning the Spratlys.
“I want to assure you, on all subjects, we in the United States are with the Philippines,” he said. “The Philippines and the United States are strategic treaty allies. We are partners. We will continue to consult and work with each other on all issues, including the South China Sea and Spratly Islands.”
* * *
CLEAR SIGNAL: In the same sympathetic tone, Sen. Jim Webb, Democrat chair of the Senate subcommittee overseeing American policy on East Asia, said the US must condemn China’s use of force and push for multilateral negotiations to resolve territorial disputes that have raised tensions in the region.
Last year, Beijing bristled when State Secretary Hillary Clinton suggested a multilateral approach and offered the good offices of the US in mediating the territorial disputes. China insisted on dealing bilaterally with each claimant.
Webb said China’s neighbors being bullied by it were watching how the US would make good its vow to stand by its allies. “That does not mean military confrontation, per se, but we have to make a clear signal,” he told a Washington seminar organized by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Webb and Sen. James Inhofe, a ranking Republican on the subcommittee, introduced a Senate resolution last Monday condemning China’s actions.
* * *
FOLLOWUP: Access past POSTSCRIPTs at www.manilamail.com. Like POSTSCRIPT on www.facebook.com/manilamail. Or follow @FDPascual on Twitter. E-mail feedback to fdp333@yahoo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment