Back Channel
By Alejandro Del Rosario
Manila Standard Today
By Alejandro Del Rosario
Manila Standard Today
The Chinese are up to their old tricks again. While appearing to appease the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in bilateral talks, they continue to fortify their claim on Mischief Reef (Panganiban) and Scarborough Shoal (Panatag) and the Paracels.
The latest Chinese mischief came to light even as Beijing sought a bilateral meeting between President Hu Jin Tao and President Benigno Aquino III at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference on Russky Island off the Russian seaport of Vladivostok this week.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Beijing three days ago and may have been disarmed by Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi’s assurances of freedom of navigation for cargo vessels in the South China Sea. Beijing also promised to work with Asean on a South China Sea Code of Conduct.
But the Philippines and Vietnam have reason to be skeptical. Satellite pictures taken of Mischief Reef showed the Chinese have built a helipad, lighthouse and a garrison. It all started with structures on stilts purportedly to provide shelter for their fishermen. When no one was looking, the Chinese constructed a four-storey building on Panganiban Reef that serves as a garrison fully equipped with weather tracking and maritime surveillance station. The Chinese navy has also placed floating markers and buoys to stake China’s claim on Scarborough Shoal which is less than 200 miles off Zambales and within the country’s economic exclusive zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Philippine claim on the West Philippine Sea and Vietnam’s stake on the Paracels were swept under the carpet in July’s Asean foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh. For keeping the lid on the issues raised by the Philippines and Vietnam, China congratulated client state and conference host Cambodia. It makes other Asean members wonder what else Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is getting from China.
Our leaders should not be lulled or inveigled by offers of Chinese economic aid. While we continue to pursue the diplomatic path, it’s wise to take a parallel track to strengthen our armed forces with mutual defense treaties. Aside from the existing one with the US, it would do the Philippines well to also look at a proposed visiting forces agreement with Australia. Plans are afoot to acquire attack helicopters, and a few fighter jets aside from the two second-hand warships received from the US.
While Asean could accept China assuming a leadership role in the region, Beijing is doing the opposite and losing friends with its assertive and expansionist design. A dispute with Japan over Senkaku Island also claimed by China is another widening ripple in the East China Sea which could stoke historical enmity between the two countries.
It is noteworthy that US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton who was in Jakarta this week, urged Asean to put more “wind in the sails” of diplomatic efforts to unite in dealing with Chinese claim over the entire SCS. The Clinton statement is in synch with what the Philippines had been asking Asean to do, unite in the face of Chinese aggression.
Before Beijing, Mrs. Clinton met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa who showed diplomatic mettle when he shuttled to Asean capitals to repair the damage done by the badly handled foreign ministerial meeting hosted by Cambodia The Asean meeting for the first time failed to produce a joint communiqué .
Prior to Mrs. Clinton’s arrival in Beijing as part of her Asia-Pacific swing, China warned Washington not to take side in the SCS dispute with other claimant countries. US involvement and its pivot redeployment of naval power to the Asia Pacific region are perceived by the Chinese leadership as a move to contain China’s rise. A powerful China, however, is not a US concern alone. Japan and Russia also find this alarming.
On the surface, the shoals and reefs in the South China Sea seem “just a bunch of rocks,” the description of Taiwan by former US President Richard Nixon at the height of tension between China and its breakaway province in the sixties. Although still untapped, the potential oil, gas and minerals under the seabed give a global dimension to the disputed waters in a world of dwindling energy resources. This, aside from the vast fishing grounds which feed the population of China and other countries in the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment