But now that Obama seems to have belatedly come to his senses and seen fit to speak out about it, the Philippines must do the same. How can Filipinos afford not to? If they remain silent, the Chinese will use their silence as a sign of acceptance of China's dominion over all of the South China Sea. The Chinese can even argue that point to the arbitrators in the Hague saying for instance that "we told the Filipinos to stay away from Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) and they complied, which means they tacitly accept our dominion over it." Never mind that Panatag Shoal is just 124 nautical miles from Zambales and can be found on Philippine maps dating back hundreds of years. China's Nine-Dash line claim on the other hand is nothing but the figment of some Chinese communist apparatchik's imagination whose origin goes back only to December of 1947. The only reason the Chinese are currently asserting their ridiculous Nine-Dash claim is because they now have the military might to force countries like the Philippines to accept it. In fact in June of this year, Wang himself stated that Chinese leaders would not be able to concede anything in the South China Sea because if they did, they “would not be able to face [their] forefathers and ancestors.” The Chinese have thus painted themselves into a corner and won't be backing down anytime soon ... unless they are forced to. The handmade barong tagalog that will be presented to Chinese President Xi Jinping to wear at the gala dinner, the keepsake mementos, and all the smiling Filipino faces and friendly handshakes won't change a thing. Filipinos who think there's a chance the Chinese will relent are simply deluding themselves. What Filipinos must do—from the president on down—is stand firm and show resolve. The Philippines must take every opportunity to express its displeasure with the loss of its sovereignty over many of the Spratly islands that China took from it. The Philippines might be small and militarily weak, but Filipinos will need to stand tall and firm and ally themselves with countries like the United States which is trying to build a coalition big enough and powerful enough to make the Chinese back away from their ridiculous claims in the South China Sea. |
Thứ Ba, 1 tháng 12, 2015
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