A right thinking Filipino journalist would have recognized the dynamics
of the multi-nation conflicting interests in the South China Sea and should
therefore support our country. But because we delude ourselves as free media,
some of our colleagues have thrown patriotic values out of the window and have
promoted, whether wittingly or unwittingly, positions that negatively affect
our country’s position.
From what was once a
“see-no-evil, hear-no-evil” club, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) has shown signs of transforming itself as an avenue for seeking a
rationalization of conflicting interests among its members. During the recent
ASEAN Summit held in Cambodia, China’s role in the South China Sea was
questioned by Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines. Not only that, the three
ASEAN member countries contested the pro-China proposal not to internationalize
the South China Sea conflict. The Philippines and Vietnam are claimants in the
South China Sea dispute while Singapore sees regional stability with a big US
presence.
Filipinos should be proud of how
President Benigno S. Aquino III (P-Noy) intensely campaigned — while being
pestered by a vicious flu virus that required a 2-day bed rest — for our
national interest during the ASEAN Summit. P-Noy was the most vocal and
aggressive in challenging China’s position in the South China Sea. Our country
is actually facing a crisis of major proportions in this South China Sea
dispute that also involves the interests and claims of other ASEAN countries
and US strategic interests as well.
The US strategic interest in the
region is to keep the vital shipping lanes of the South China Sea free from
imposed disruption. Shipping disruption in the South China Sea would have a
telling effect on the projection of US power in the Pacific and the viability
of commercial activities of US goods as well as those of its allies. The oil
and gas in the South China is an added interest for the US to play a role.
P-Noy initially wanted to take
the neutral role in the US and China conflict. We’re of no real threat
militarily to either the US or China. We should at least aspire to maintain
good relations and freely trade with both of them. China had compelled P-Noy to
align with the US by its aggressive stance of installing a military presence in
our Panatag Shoal and including parts of our territory in their claimed domain.
There are Filipinos who opine
that the Philippines shouldn’t have embraced the US and instead dealt with
China diplomatically. These are ignorant deductions of folks who don’t know
history and are deluded about how benevolent China could be if we didn’t invite
the US factor in the South China Sea conflict. It was only in the Bible — a
dubious source, especially the Old Testament — where a man named Daniel was
thrown into the den of hungry lions and lived to talk about it. In the real
world, anyone thrown into the den of hungry lions would be eaten and devoured
with gusto. Sans US support, China would have eaten us like a hungry lion.
It’s only the US that has a
military presence that could deter Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.
It’s only the US that could make China think twice and opt to execute a retrograde
maneuver from its aggressive foreign policy. If ever an acceptable code of
conduct is crafted among claimants in the South China Sea — it’s only US
presence that can ensure that China will keep its end of the bargain.
China’s aggression is primarily prodded
by its need to ensure oil and gas supplies to fuel its economy. China has good
reasons to fear a US domination of the remaining oil and gas sources in the
world. China doesn’t have the presence that the US enjoys in the oil-rich
Middle East. A US naval fleet could easily be dispatched to the Middle East and
the US has a powerful proxy in the region — Israel. The US has its own supply
of oil and gas and may not even need to partake in the oil and gas explorations
and operations in the South China Sea. To China, the oil and gas in the South
China Sea could mean continued progress or economic slowdown.
Filipinos should learn from
Vietnam. Up to the early 1970s, Vietnam and the US were engaged in a brutal
war, which Vietnam won. Despite that conflict, Vietnam has opted to dance with
the US in this issue of multi-nation conflicts in the South China Sea. We don’t
even have the military capability of Vietnam, a country that defeated the US,
and yet we have here self-proclaimed nationalists finding fault when our
president makes the wise move of engaging US support in dealing with Chinese
aggression.
They’re either stupid or
Quislings. Stupid because they can’t seem to fathom where our national interest
is best served. Quislings because what they’re proposing are also what our Reds
are mouthing.
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