By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
President
Aquino says he is preoccupied with the Philippines’ territorial dispute
with China, a national security concern that will definitely fester
beyond his term. FILE PHOTO
President Aquino is preoccupied with the
Philippines’ territorial dispute with China, a national security
concern that will definitely fester beyond his term.
At a recent informal dinner with Inquirer
editors and reporters, Aquino was asked what was foremost in his mind
with a little over two years left to him in office.
“China,” the President quickly replied.
Told that allied countries were behind the
Philippines as it stands up to China’s aggressive territorial claim in
the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Aquino said in Filipino:
“Precisely, they are behind us. Which means we, the ones in front, are
still the ones who will deal with this issue.”
In an interview with The New York Times on
Tuesday, Aquino called for other nations to do more to support the
Philippines in its maritime dispute with China.
He compared the Philippine situation with
the fate of the Sudetenland—the northern, southwestern and western areas
of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by Germans—which fell into the hands
of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany in 1938 after the Western nations failed
to back the Czech government.
China’s official Xinhua news agency blasted
Aquino’s comments late on Wednesday, saying the President’s “senseless”
comparison of his “northern neighbor to Nazi Germany exposed his true
color as an amateurish politician who was ignorant both of history and
of reality.”
No need to explain
On Thursday, Malacañang said there was “no compelling reason” for the President to explain the Nazi Germany comparison.
“Any newspaper, local or foreign, is free
to give their own comments, but we will just remain focused on achieving
what is best for our national interest,” Communications Secretary
Herminio Coloma told reporters.
“We will not be swayed or distracted by a commentary that is not fully aligned with our own position,” he said.
Should complaints be sent through diplomatic channels, the Department of Foreign Affairs would handle them, Coloma added.
A security analyst told the Inquirer on
Thursday that Aquino’s admission that the dispute with China preoccupied
him reflected “a concern that affected national interest.”
“It is a statement with foresight… It is a
strategic perspective. Much of what he says reflects a major economic
and security concern,” Jose Antonio Custodio, an analyst, military
historian and professor, said in a phone interview.
Custodio said President Aquino was
obviously thinking forward, aware that the dispute with China could
affect the administration that would succeed his, even future
generations.
If nothing is done to solve the dispute now, dealing with it could be worse for succeeding administrations, Custodio said.
Ties with China
In dealing with the territorial dispute,
Custodio said, the Philippine government has to take into consideration
its economic relations with China, the second-largest economy in the
world where thousands of Filipino migrant workers are employed.
It also must consider its diplomatic
relations with China and even sociocultural ties, especially with a
population that has an economic elite with Chinese lineage, he said.
The President himself has Chinese ancestors and he traces his roots back to a southern Fujian village.
In his state visit to China in 2011, Aquino
visited the village of Hongjian where his ancestors lived. His mother,
the late President Corazon Aquino, did the same during her state visit
in 1988.
The Philippines took its territorial
dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea to the United Nations in
January last year for arbitration.
Aquino told the Inquirer that he was
hopeful that the UN arbitral tribunal’s ruling would be favorable to the
Philippines and that it would finally resolve the dispute with China.
The President noted that the Philippines’
memorial, or statement of facts in the government’s petition against
China, would be submitted on March 30, before the tribunal makes a
ruling.
Strong case
Custodio said that from a legal standpoint, the Philippines had a strong case.
“China’s position is questionable because they are claiming the entire sea,” Custodio said.
But he cautioned against what China could
do if it lost the case, especially now that China was on the path to
regaining its stature as the region’s “Middle Kingdom.”
Custodio said that for the Chinese, “there
is a price” for challenging them in the international arena like what
the Philippines is doing.
“They will make life interesting for us. To
use that Chinese saying, life will be interesting for the Philippines,”
Custodio said.—With reports from Christian V. Esguerra and wires
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