PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. said there is a need for a “paradigm shift” in the way the Philippines is dealing with China in connection with the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea issue as traditional methods of diplomacy used by the country to deal with Chinese aggression and harassment has resulted in “very little progress.”
The President, during an interview with Japanese media in Tokyo over the weekend, said current diplomatic efforts are heading “in a poor direction.”
“Well, to this point, we have resorted to the traditional methods of diplomacy where, should there be an incident, we send note verbale. Our embassy will send a démarche to the Foreign Affairs (Ministry) office in Beijing, but we have been doing this for many years now, with very little progress,” Marcos said.
“We have to do something that we have not done before. We have to come up with a new concept, a new principle, a new idea so that we move, as I say, we move the needle the other way. It’s going up, let’s move the needle back, so that paradigm shift is something that we have to formulate,” the President said.
Asked to elaborate on the “paradigm shift,” the President said a lot of ideas are being discussed.
“We have to bring all of those ideas together and to change the direction that these incidents have taken us. We have to stop going that way. We’ve gone down the wrong road. We have to disengage and find ourselves a more peaceful road to go down,” he said.
Marcos said the country is also still talking with its partners to consolidate its stand and plans and eventually come up with a joint position that states their responsibilities as far as the WPS is concerned.
He said the Philippines will also continue talking with its partners in the Indo-Pacific region and with “the rest of the world,” if necessary, to de-escalate the tension in the WPS, and prevent any incident that might cause an actual violent conflict.
“It’s time that the countries that feel that they have an involvement in this situation, we have to come up with a paradigm shift… the consensus that we must continue to promote peace, but we have to decide amongst ourselves what part each of us plays and what we can play, what we are willing to play,” he said.
Early this month, vessels of the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannon at the Philippine vessels involved in a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
China is claiming almost the entire South China Sea, including territories and fixtures that are within other countries’ EEZs or territories. It has refused to recognize a 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that said its massive claim to the South China Sea had no legal basis.
Aside from the Philippines, ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims with China in parts of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce.
‘PRESSURE ON CHINA’
China yesterday accused the Philippines of “breaching common understandings” and heightening tension in the South China Sea after President Marcos said on Monday that that a “more assertive” China presents a “real challenge” to its Asian neighbors.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press conference in Beijing that it was the Philippines that is heightening tension in the disputed waterway.
“It is the Philippines who has attempted to change the current status of Ren’ai Jiao and make it a fait accompli and it is the Philippines who has on every occasion courted external forces to put pressure on China,” Wang said, referring to the Chinese name for the shoal.
China again raised the issue of a supposed promised by the Philippines to tow away a Navy ship grounded at Ayungin.
“No matter what smokescreen the Philippines uses and what blame game it plays, nothing will change those facts: The Philippines promised to tow away the warship illegally grounded at Ren’ai Jiao 24 years ago. But 24 years on, the warship is still there. China and the Philippines had agreed to properly manage the issue of Ren’ai Jiao and thereby kept things stable at sea. However, over the course of this year, the Philippines has gone back on its words and kept sending government and military vessels into the waters of Ren’ai Jiao to supply construction materials for the large-scale repair and reinforcement of the “grounded” warship and permanently occupy Ren’ai Jiao,” he added.
Wang was referring to the Philippine Navy landing ship tank BRP Sierra Madre that was grounded by Manila in Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to bolster the country’s presence in the area following the Chinese move in the Mischief Reef. The ship, which was still a commissioned ship of the Navy, hosts a small contingent of Filipino troops.
National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya earlier called the claim of China that the Philippines promised to tow away BRP Sierra Madre as a “figment of imagination” and challenged Beijing to show proof that Manila indeed made such a promise.
Wang said this is what caused tensions between Beijing and Manila.
He stressed Beijing’s resolve will not weaken in safeguarding and protecting its sovereignty and maritime rights.
“We hope the Philippines will realize that tying itself to some major power and forcing China to back down on issues concerning China’s core interests will lead nowhere. Ultimately, it is the Philippines’ own interests and the region’s peace and stability that will take the toll,” he added.
CHINESE ENVOY
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said he respects Marcos’ decision not to send back home Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian amid calls from senators.
“We just made our sentiments be heard — Senate President Migz Zubiri, I myself because of the brash, abrasive character of the Chinese ambassador,” Ejercito said at a Senate forum.
Ejercito said since the President decided not to send Huang back to China, he hopes the envoy will be “more diplomatic” in dealing with WPS issue “so as not to add any more fuel to fire.”
Camarines Sur Rep. Villafuerte laughed off Xilian’s call for Manila and Beijing to restart consultations to settle the territorial row, saying Beijing clearly has a penchant for engaging in double talk.
“A nonpareil gaslighter like China has no place at the negotiating table amid its unceasing, increasingly provocative and dangerous bullying in Philippine seas in defiance of international law,” he said. “Any diplomatic negotiation has zero chance of reaching a peaceful settlement of the territorial dispute for so long as China keeps its gaslighting ways and insists on its legit claims over maritime zones that clearly belongs to the Philippines on the strength of UNCLOS, the 2016 PCA Arbitral Ruling and the rules-based global order.”
He said even the Department of Foreign Affairs itself has publicly acknowledged the “dissonance” between Beijing’s words and actions with regards to its avowed efforts to ease sea tension.
DESTABILIZATION?
Ejercito said supporters of former President Duterte have been launching “orchestrated attacks” on politicians and a number of government officials who are vocal against China in an effort to destabilize the government.
He, however, said Duterte is not behind the attacks even if the former president is known to be pro-China.
He said “it’s not far-fetched” that the destabilizers are funded by China. He said the attacks social media started with Speaker Martin Romualdez, then Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is also known to take a hard stance against China’s aggression in the WPS.
He said the attacks later aimed at him, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela. Now, he added, the bashing is aimed at President Marcos.
He said the attacks happened when Duterte supporters returned from China last month. He earlier said a number of Filipinos, including members of the media, travelled to China for two weeks where they underwent “indoctrination” to destabilize the government amid the rising tension in the WPS.
He called on the Duterte supporters to stop sowing intrigues and spreading false information. — With Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
