It is basically an open secret that China is on a global domination tour. As a result of its impressive transformation in the past three decades, China is now in a position to use its economic power to project its political, military and institutional might. It’s bullying the Philippines, a country who couldn’t even defeat it in basketball, over Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal to the Philippines and Huangyan Island to China). While we are at a disadvantage in this dispute, we still have some tricks up our sleeve.
China has been using every trick in the bully book to intimidate the Philippines. Fishing vessels, maritime surveillance ships and even warships in the disputed area? Check. Travel bans? Check. Stranded banana shipments? Check. Using the Philippines as a poster child for other claimant-countries in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea)? Check.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Chinese authorities refuse entry to Vice President Jejomar Binay the next time he comes to apologize for another Pinoy drug mule.
The Philippine government has wisely maintained that it would pursue diplomatic means to resolve the dispute. Not a bad move, considering that this is the only viable option we have at the moment (no thanks to the widespread corruption and “pabaon” that have plagued our Armed Forces). Boycotting Chinese products is out of the question because almost all products nowadays are manufactured in China. The United States, even if it has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, has so far chosen to remain neutral on this issue. (China is currently the United States’ biggest creditor, and is sufficiently powerful to lecture US President Barack Obama and Co. over the US government’s debt ceiling crisis last year.)
China has also so far refused the Philippines’ invitation to take the dispute to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Because, really, why should China allow itself to be bogged down by international agreements? Why should a regional Hegemon with ambitions of world-leader status not use its overwhelming power to get what it wants? Intimidating the Philippines sends a strong message not only to other claimant-countries but also to the current global Hegemon (the United States). China’s muscle-flexing in the South China Sea reminds every other country in the world just how powerful it has become.
But it is also this hubris that the Philippines can exploit to its benefit. If China wants to be a global Hegemon like the United States, military and economic might and false pronouncements of a “peaceful rise” are not enough. China needs friends—aside from North Korea and Burma (Myanmar)—and political power to enhance its international influence and credibility. To have both, China must be willing to adhere to moral norms and international agreements.
Becoming an influential global power also means accepting responsibilities (such as creating security and/or economic arrangements in the region instead of making enemies) that come with the status. It is precisely this ambition of grandeur that the Jejemon must skillfully use against the wannabe global Hegemon.
Feza Duque, 28, is pursuing a master’s degree in international studies at De La Salle University-Manila. Her two great loves are foreign affairs and tennis. She credits her friend, April Gonzales Cheng, for helping her formulate the title of this piece.