China is making double-edged statements recently as the military stand-off with Philippines in the disputed Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal continues and amidst the US-Philippines military exercises.
In a report, the Chinese government said it is willing to resolve the territorial dispute with the Philippines bilaterally yet its military vows to protect the country's interest. By protecting means sending a nuclear powered submarine to the area, although the government neither confirms nor denies it. On April 28, China sent a naval vessel, described as that country’s most advanced fishery patrol ship to Scarborough Shoal.
China's defense minister Liang Guanglie said that any military action will be based on the needs of diplomacy, according to the China Daily. Meanwhile, another report quoted People's Liberation Army (PLA) major general Luo Yuan, in a commentary published by state-owned website china.org.cn, as saying that "China has not abandoned the idea of 'war at all costs' to protect its interests". He said a "decisive action" against the Philippines should be done "to reinforce Beijing's claim on the disputed Scarborough Shoal".
Can a tiny country like the Philippines match up with China's military might? (AP Photo)
The Philippines stands on its ground that the Scarborough Shoal, which is nearest to the Philippines and part of its 200-mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, and miles and miles far away (about 1,000 nautical miles) from China, is part of its territory. China's claim to the area is based on historical accounts that Chinese trading ships were using the area hundreds of years ago, a claim that has not been recognised by international bodies and treaties such as the Convention on the Law of the Seas (Unclos). This is the reason why it has refused several times the challenge of the Philippines to settle this matter at the UN. China has reiterated that it will only deal with claimant countries in the Spratlys--the Philippines, Taiwan, Viet Nam and Brunei--bilaterally, simply because it knows that these countries are smaller, militarily and economically weaker. If China deals with claimants through the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or the UN, it would have less leverage than what it is asserting now.
The Philippine government, knowing that it has no match with the military firepower of China, has long been advocating to settle the dispute at the UN body and has been getting the support of ASEAN but the bloc (led by Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, therefore non-claimants) has been treading carefully not to provoke China, an increasing economic partner of ASEAN. As the regional bloc inches closer to the economic integration by 2015, it is walking on a tightrope whether to veer away from China or get it to its side.
The unusual bold resistance of the Philippines, despite limited resources and support from ASEAN, is seen as an irritant by the Chinese government. The Chinese looks at the Philippines as a small kid trying to hide under the skirt of his mother--the United States, a long time coloniser and an ally having signed the Mutual Defence Treaty. China is always mocking the Philippines for the way it has been behaving, saying that the small country in the Pacific doesn't have the right to claim any of the disputed islands and it is stealing territories by sending exploration ships.
Analysts say this spat between the Philippines and China could pit China against the US, which wants to keep its historic military and economic hold on Asia, and add pressure on Beijing to enter negotiations. Analysts add it would be humiliated by smaller countries with weaker militaries but more clearly defined claims to the sea – and stronger US backing.
Clearly, what the Philippines want is not war with China but respect for what should be theirs all along. And if cozying with the US is the answer, so be it. China wants to treat the Philippines like its been treating Tibet and Taiwan. It has territorial spat with India, too. It's trying to claim every inch of its neigbours (and even non-neighbours) territory to expand and feed its 1.2 billion hungry population.
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