By Rene Acosta & Recto Mercene
DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has scored China over its double talk on the South China Sea issue, saying its “preaching” of peace was not reflective of its action in the territory that it disputes against its neighbors, most especially the Philippines.
“They want peace in South China Sea, blah blah blah, but it does not match what they are doing on the ground,” the defense secretary said on Tuesday in reaction to the speech of Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua that Beijing is following the path of peaceful development.
“That is what I have questioned during the Shangri-La (Dialogue) wherein they said we do not bully people around, they follow international law. But I said, you are not. What you are [saying] is not what you are doing on the ground,” Lorenzana said.
Zhao said on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that the situation in the South China Sea has been stabilized through the concerted efforts of China with the Philippines and the other claimant states.
“We stay committed to the peace and stability in the South China Sea,” he also said.
China’s top envoy to the Philippines said Manila and China should not allow a tiny part of the problem in the South China Sea “to hijack the 99 percent of friendship and cooperation that has been developed between the two countries.”
Zhao added: “We should have confidence in our wisdom that sooner or later we can settle it peacefully…We cannot let the 1 percent differences to hijack the whole 99 percent of friendship and cooperation as hostage. This is what I call the realistic and pragmatic approach.”
He then added, “Pending the peaceful settlement in the future, we will need to put our differences in proper context.”
After a Chinese boat struck a Philippine fishing boat at Recto Bank on June 9, then abandoned 22 Filipinos as they swam for their lives when their boat sank, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. filed a diplomatic protest and denounced the action of the Chinese in a speech at the United Nations in New York.
Both countries have conducted separate investigations.
“I know you are all concerned about the situation in the South China Sea. The South China Sea issue is not something we have today. It’s being part of the history,” Zhao said on Monday night in Manila.
Zhao said he is aware that the SCS issues “are very sensitive issues,” adding that “for China, for the Philippines and for other claimant countries, it’s not easy to settle. It cannot be settled overnight.”
He said China remains committed to peace and stability in the South China Sea.
China, Zhao said, “will continue to work with the Philippines and other states directly concerned to resolve the relevant disputes in the South China Sea through bilateral negotiation and consultation on the basis of respecting historical fact and in accordance with international law which also includes Unclos.”
‘Nothing new’
However, Lorenzana said the Chinese ambassador’s speech was “nothing new.”
“I have heard that version of those speech many times already. I heard that from the mouth of Xi Jinping when we met him with the President, first time we met in 2016,” he said.
“I heard it from the mouth of other ministers, and then again [at the] last Shangri-La Dialogue, I heard that again from their Minister of Defense. So nothing new from what they are saying,” he added.
The defense secretary said that “until such time that their action is matched by their words,” then all of the pronouncements of Chinese officials are “doubtful.”
“Those are [words that] just may be narrative…good to be heard just to keep us maybe calm, or just a consolation for us,” Lorenzana said.
“But the bottom line is, their statements do not match with what they are doing in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
The defense chief insisted that Beijing is bullying the country, citing the Asian giant’s constructive control of the Scarborough Shoal, traditional fishing ground for several Asian countries, off western Luzon.
“The way that they took over Scarborough Shoal, to me that is, that was bullying,” he said.
1 comment
China will not fire the first shot. China is pushing and
shoving us around until we get fed up (mapikon). We
should be careful, as PRRD said, to watch over our
remote and scattered islands and islets as they are
going up and down the country looking where they can build up
“shelters” again. Their strategy is to rouse up to a fight
wherein they will have the justification to use their full
military might.
I suggest the US build military bases here again, for long
term security in many decades in the future.