‘Friend,’ indeed

Is this any way to treat a friend?

Retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio spoke for many Filipinos this week when he raised the issue of China’s supposed friendship with the Philippines, and in particular with President Duterte, after 220 Chinese militia ships were sighted moored at the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) since March 7.

“Friends do not seize, do not occupy the backyard of each other,” pointed out Carpio. Thus, Mr. Duterte should tell Beijing—which once called him “the most respected and most important friend for President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people”—not “to seize our territorial maritime zones.”

True to form, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque downplayed China’s latest provocation, saying that the President would talk to the Chinese ambassador. “Friends and neighbors can talk everything out,” he added.

But Beijing has so far slammed the door on any possibility of acknowledging its encroachment on Philippine waters. The Chinese ambassador dismissed the diplomatic protest filed this week by the foreign affairs department. Denying the incursion, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said the reef is “part of China’s Nansha Qundao” district—a newfangled administrative zone it had declared over its seized islands in the WPS that no country in the world recognizes. It swatted away all talk of China’s latest trespassing as an “unnecessary irritation,” including Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s demand for the vessels’ pullout since their presence was a “provocative action of militarizing the area.”

According to data from reconnaissance flights led by the Western Command on March 22, the vessels are still in the reef some 175 nautical miles off Bataraza town in Palawan province, well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. They are “a concern due to the possible overfishing and destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to safety of navigation,” said the government watchdog National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.

This is far from the first time China has brazenly muscled its way into Philippine territory, using a slew of tactics and military might to harass Filipino fishermen and fence off seized areas, the ultimate aim apparently to duck the arbitral ruling and bolster its bogus claims in the South China Sea. The latest incident could be along the same playbook, a “prelude” to China’s occupation of the reef, warned Carpio, who recalled how China started its takeover of the Mischief Reef in 1995 by ostensibly building shelters for its fishermen and eventually turning the reef into a naval base. International security analysts have also noted how China established de facto control over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal after the 2012 standoff through its coast guard and military ships.

Is the military, the constitutional defender of the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, bestirred to consider any significant course of action against the swarming move by the Chinese maritime militia? Not when the Beijing-besotted commander in chief himself isn’t inclined to do so. Hence the dispatch that the Armed Forces is “still deciding the best course of action” while monitoring the situation, and AFP spokesperson Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo’s dispiriting remarks that sending a Philippine ship over to reaffirm ownership may “militarize” and “escalate” the situation. As if the Chinese act of barging in and illegally occupying the area hasn’t done that by now.

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] uses maritime militia to intimidate, provoke, and threaten other nations, which undermines peace and security in the region,” said the US Embassy in a statement. “Chinese boats have been mooring in this area for many months in ever increasing numbers, regardless of the weather”—a dig at the Chinese Embassy’s claim that the boats were simply sheltering in the reef due to a storm. Australia and Japan have also expressed concern—Canberra cautioning against “destabilizing actions” in the South China Sea, a “crucial international waterway” that should remain “secure, open and inclusive,” and Tokyo saying it “strongly opposes any action that heightens tensions.”

Will the international community’s resolve move Xi Jinping’s best friend in Malacañang in any way? Not likely. At the arrival ceremonies for the Sinovac vaccine donations from China last month, Mr. Duterte was once again profuse in his praise for the country: “China never asked for anything. China has been giving us everything but never asked anything from us,” he gushed.

It never asks, it just takes. The Julian Felipe Reef—named after the composer of the music of the Philippine national anthem (those words: “Lupang Hinirang, duyan ka ng magiting, sa manlulupig, di ka pasisiil”) might just become its next trophy, unofficial recompense for the vaccine donations that had made Malacañang all giddy. What a friend.