AMID the escalating tensions in the South China Sea, the United States remains non-committal, emboldening China to intensify its aggressive behavior in the disputed waters and to continue its bullying tactics over its neighboring countries.
The silence of the American government followed the intrusion early this month by a fleet of Chinese fishing vessels, two large civilian ships and a Chinese Navy frigate in the waters surrounding the Ayungin Reef, and the arrogant declaration by Chinese government that the disputed islands belong to China.
“The Ren’ai Jiao is part of the Nansha Islands, and that China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. Chinese public service vessels are entitled to patrol there,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.
In response to China’s brazen arrogance, both President Aquino and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin showed some bravado by declaring that the Ayungin Shoal belongs to the Philippines and that the military is ready to defend the country’s claim over the islands.
“We have a clear message to the world: The Philippines is for Filipinos, and we have the capability to resist bullies entering our backyard,” the President boldly declared during the 115th anniversary of the Philippine Navy.
“It’s part of our continental shelf and it’s not disputed as far as we are concerned, it’s ours so why should we leave,” Gazmin told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo. “Up to the last soldier standing, we will fight for what is ours.”
While we laud and believe in the courage of both the President and the defense chief, the subsequent actions of the Aquino administration and the military belied the strength of their words.
Gazmin said he would send an unarmed navy boat to send supplies to a small Philippine contingent aboard RPS Sierra Madre, which was intentionally grounded on a nearby shoal to establish a military detachment. Why unarmed? How can an unarmed navy boat “defend what is ours” against an armed Chinese frigate?
Amid the brazen incursion, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the country will exercise maximum restraint and will stick to diplomacy in addressing the situation. Under the circumstances, of course, the Philippines has no recourse but to pursue its pending legal action before an international tribunal for arbitration.
The trouble with international arbitration is that it could take years and there is not even a clear assurance that the country would gain legal victory. And even if the Philippine wins its case, there is still the problem of enforcement. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea does not contain any provision on enforcement.
The Chinese government has understandably rejected any form of arbitration because their claim does not stand on legal ground. In the meantime, the Chinese are slowly occupying the disputed islands and shoals in what is called “creeping occupation.”
In 1993, the Chinese started occupying Panganiban or Mischief Reef near Ayungin, and last year, began occupying Panatag or Scarborough Shoal off Zambales. In 1974, China gained actual occupation by seizing the Paracel Group after a brief battle with Vietnamese troops, killing 54 Vietnamese in the process.
To establish occupation, the Chinese have elevated Xisha (Paracel), Zhongsha (Macclesfield bank), and Nansha (Spratlys) islands to “prefecture status” under Sansha city from their previous county-level status. Chinese officials said the establishment of Sansha, which means “city of three sands,” would enhance China’s administrative management on the three islands. In fact, China is planning to open the city to Chinese tourists.
The Philippines, again, protested the establishment of Sansha City but apparently the protest – as other protests before it — fell on deaf ears.
How can Aquino boast that the Philippines is ready to “resist bullies entering our backyard” when it has not even tried to send one or two of its newly rebuilt patrol boats to confront the Chinese fishers even if they were escorted by a Chinese frigate? Why haven’t we sent these boats to patrol our waters?
The one time that the Coast Guard tried to stop Taiwanese fishermen from poaching on Philippine waters in the Balintang Channel earlier in the month, the Aquino government wasted no time in sending profuse apologies to the Taiwanese government for the death of one fisherman in what the Coast Guard said occurred after the fishing boat tried to ram the PCG vessel.
How can the Philippine military defend what is ours, “up to the last man standing,” when there is a not a single soul standing on the islands and surrounding waters to defend our sovereignty in the South China Sea?
Obviously, the United States is lurking in the background, waiting for the opportune moment to either intervene on behalf of its allies or, sadly, to take advantage of the deepening crisis to pressure the Philippines to allow US ships to use the country’s ports and airports as launching bases for its jets and ships, or to allow the return of the US bases.
In the meantime, outside of its legal case before the international tribunal, the Philippines has to match the aggressiveness of China in boosting its claims by establishing occupation in the remaining islands. The country has a civilian population in the Kalayaan Island but still has to put up even military garrisons in the bigger islands or shoals.
“By analogy, if you have a property abandoned, your presence is unseen, then you will invite squatters. This is how simple is our problem in the Spratlys. We have no presence there,” an unnamed Navy officer told Philippine Daily Tribune reporter Paul Atienza.
We simply cannot allow the Chinese to trample on our sovereignty by plain negligence and then file a diplomatic protest each time. If the Aquino administration is really adamant that the disputed islands are ours, it has to show it is really determined to occupy and defend them. Otherwise, we will lose them by default.
Brave words won’t help the country’s cause against a bully like China. Brave and well-calculated actions might.
(valabelgas@aol.com)