Is the Philippine government not falling into a Byzantine international snare? Is the government not thinking that the United States and China are intentionally fomenting disputes in the Asian region? These queries are being raised because the results are obvious.
Placing consensus above all, it is fair to say that Asean leaders are generally not known for their displays of emotion or passion.
By disregarding its passport, China has sparked a torrent of diplomatic protests. The new passport carries a map that shows China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and on its border with India.
“Dasma” is short for Dasmariñas and refers to the posh gated community in Makati, not the busy Chinatown street in downtown Manila, or the first-class city in the province of Cavite. “Por-bes” used to refer to a street near España Avenue and the University of Santo Tomas named in honor of William Cameron Forbes, American governor-general of the Philippines (1908-1913), until it was changed to honor Arsenio H. Lacson, the colorful mayor of Manila (1952-1962). Forbes Park may be the premier gated community in the Philippines, but it has not kept sour grapes from commenting on mortgaged, repossessed, or sold properties in a place they sneeringly refer to as “Pobres Park.”
In 2016, China’s share of the global economy will be larger than America’s in purchasing-price-parity terms. This is an earthshaking development; in 1980, when the United States accounted for 25 percent of world output, China’s share of the global economy was only 2.2 percent. And yet, after 30 years of geopolitical competence, the Chinese seem to be on the verge of losing it just when they need it most.
Since the maritime standoff at Scarborough Shoal in April, when the Philippines accused Chinese fishermen of poaching in its exclusive economic zone, not a week has passed without an ever-expanding incursion by Chinese boats in disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
No one can stop China from claiming “indisputable sovereignty” over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea)—except China itself or the authoritative power of world opinion.
The failure of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to issue a joint communiqué after a regular meeting of foreign ministers concluded in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh last Friday was truly unprecedented. It was the first time in the 45-year history of the Asean, a virtual paper factory with dozens of regularly scheduled, amply documented conferences every year, that a post-event statement could not be released. The failure bodes ill for the usefulness of the Asean as a regional association.
A Chinese salvage fleet of at least five vessels and several smaller boats steamed last week into a shoal off Palawan island to rescue a People’s Liberation Army warship that ran aground a reef while patrolling disputed waters in the Spratly archipelago in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Around four-fifths of the Philippines is actually water, and only one-fifth land. This is premised on the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As an archipelagic country, this fact is of utmost importance to us. But until recently when incidents in our western seas put our territorial seas and outlying islands at the center stage of national discussions, we tended to all but this much larger part of our territory.
The Cabinet meeting on Thursday left the country in suspense over how soon the Aquino administration will send ships back to Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal to reassert the Philippine claim over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) amid expanding Chinese maritime incursions in the area.
In her opinion piece titled “Understanding China” (Inquirer, 6/6/12), Andrea Chloe Wong notes that China claims “what it calls the Huangyan Island [Scarborough Shoal] on the belief that it first discovered it, named it, and incorporated it into its territory.” It is not a matter of discovering a place but occupying it that is the essential basis of territorial claims. China never settled on Scarborough Shoal until recently, when it saw the potential oil in the area. Why did it not settle on the islands upon discovery?
