Toronto, Canada – Filipino-Canadian For Good Governance (FilCan4GG) is calling upon all Filipino-Canadians to join the Global Protest alongside the US Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG) and all other groups worldwide to protest China’s bullying tactics on the Philippines’ Scarborough Shoal.
GLOBAL DEMONSTRATIONS SCHEDULED ON MAY 11, FRIDAY
IN FRONT OF CHINESE EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES
The territorial dispute over the shoal, or atoll, located 140 miles from Luzon, Philippines, where it is known as the “Panatag Shoal”, and more than 750 miles from Hainan, China where it is called the “Huangyan Island” has escalated in recent months following Chinese provocations:
• @ Chinese ships firing on and harassing Philippine fishing boats and exploration and mapping vessels in the vicinity of the shoal, forcing them to withdraw
Chinese ships dropping steel posts and navigation buoys with Chinese markings in the waters around Scarborough Shoal
Chinese ships blocking the Philippine navy vessel, BRP Gregorio del Pilar, which sought to apprehend Chinese boats loaded with corals, rare fish and live baby sharks which were illegally caught and prohibited under Philippine laws
@ Chinese planes buzzing of Philippine Coast vessel and fishing boats in the shoal
In its April 25 editorial, the Global Times, published by China’s official People’s Daily, announced that, “China should select the most arrogant provocateur, conduct comprehensive strikes, and exert pressure economically, politically and militarily. If the water overwhelms China’s knees, other countries will find their necks in the water.” That China is prepared to use military force in a small-scale war with the Philippines shows that its basis for its claim over the shoal, and the Spratlys for that matter, are inferior and will not stand in any international court of arbitration.
Historians worldwide equate China’s 9-Dash Line Claim over the China Sea to an attempt by Italy to claim the whole Mediterranean ocean.
It will be recalled that Chinese forces overwhelmed South Vietnamese forces at the Paracels in January 19, 1974 resulting to a number of ships sank and damaged on both sides. South Vietnam suffered 53 casualties and scores captured. North Vietnam’s communist leaders abetted the Chinese aggression, a blunder they regret to this day.
Granting China’s acquisition of the shoal would have far reaching consequences not only for the Philippines but for the rest of the world. Itwould mean China would control the surrounding seas radiating 12 miles around that will overlap with the Philippines’ 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), not to mention the additional 150-mile extended zone.
The shoal’s strategic importance as an international navigational waterway cannot be over-emphasized, as approximately 300 ships pass daily in its vicinity, foremost of which are ships bound for Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan transporting the bulk of their petroleum.
To diffuse the threat of Chinese belligerence, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert Del Rosario called on China to bring the territorial dispute to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) but which, unfortunately, China vehemently opposed. The Philippines has decided to bring the issue unilaterally to the body, while mulling the move to submit it to the attention of the UN General Assembly. The Philippines warns the ASEAN countries, that only through multilateral approach can the small and weak countries be able to stand up to China’s threat of force.
To gather momentum in rallying 12 million Filipinos in 220 countries throughout the world the Global Filipino Diaspora Council (GFDC) is being organized under the initiative of lawyers Loida Lewis, Rodel Rodis and Ted Laguatan who are also core members of USP4GG. Toronto-based FilCan4GG will affiliate with the GFDC to coordinate efforts in Toronto as well as in other Canadian cities.
FilCan4GG is calling on all Filipino-Canadians to rally behind the freedom and the right of every country to own and control its God-given natural resources, including those in the sea, in accordance with historical rights, the international laws and agreements among nations to which China is a signatory, and in accordance with geographical reasoning. The destiny of our own country lies in the unity of Filipinos, at home and in the diaspora, to join a global demonstration that China must be stopped before it becomes the Fourth Reich.
Please forward this NOTICE to all your friends, and call upon your respective civic and alumni association leaders to put into agenda this VERY IMPORTANT cause. We also call upon the publishers, editors, columnists, announcers and writers / bloggers – in print, radio, and TV media – to post this NOTICE in their respective papers.
Maraming salamat sa lahat.
Filipino-Canadians For Good Governance (FILCAN4GG)