The invasion ploy

DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / Jan. 20, 2014 / Daily Tribune

I received this text last week: “Dangerously inaccurate title of Jarius Bondoc today (Filipino traitors thrive as China readies invasion) in Philstar. TY.” The piece said, “China is preparing to seize Pag-asa Island Philippine territory. As reported by the Qianzhan (Prospects) business and strategy info site, the Chinese military has drawn up an attack plan for execution this year.” I looked up Qianzhan (Prospects), Google asked if it was Qianzshen (with an “e”). When I did find Qianzh(a)n and accessed its “About us” for ownership, history, funding, it only describes that it is a “ special market research institute” which is hardly a field that would be into “invasion” and military news developments.

A slew of provocative headlines worldwide followed: a certain ChanKai Yee in China Daily Mail (“…not affiliated in any way with The China Daily or the government of the PROC ” the news site says): “Chinese troops to seize Zhongye Island back from the Philippines in 2014” and “China and Philippines: The reasons a battle for Zhongye (Pag-asa) Island seems unavoidable”; in Western web media “China Plans To Seize South China Sea Island From Philippines, Says ‘Battle Will Be Restricted’” by Tyler Durden (ZeroHedge); “What’s China up to now?” Val Abelgas in amboy Perry Diaz’s Balita-USA, then “What if China Did Invade Pag-asa Island?” by Carl Thayer in an Australian publication The Diplomat, — ad nausea.

The Chinese “invasion” of Pag-asa story came just after another tension building item in the local and international media, about the “new” fishery regulation of Hainan province under which China places the jurisdiction of most of its China Sea territorial claims. The “new” rules were loudly denounced by the Philippines and the US as “aggression” and “provocation” while Vietnam first spoke through a “fishing association authority” followed by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs much later reasserting its claim and less rabidly describing China’s rules as “illegal.” China’s response addressed mainly the US:

“For more than 30 years, China’s relevant fisheries laws and regulations have been consistently implemented in a normal way, and have never caused any tension… If someone feels the need to say that technical amendments to local fisheries regulations implemented many years ago will cause tensions in the region and pose a threat to regional stability, then I can only say that if this does not stem from a lack of basic common sense, then it must be due to an ulterior motive.” In other words, the same fishery laws have been in existence for the past three decades and they never generated this reaction before, why should it be stirring up this year?

Previous year’s saw controversies raised over the “fisheries rules” but noticeably less strident that this year. Throughout those years, there had never been attempts at serious implementation of any police action in connection with the rules. Thus, the rules “never cause any tension” — at least never to the level of what we have seen the past weeks. Before the “fishery rules” issue could die down the “invasion” story suddenly emerged to sustain a barrage of anti-China reports and opinion pieces in Philippine and Western media.

The Kalayaan groups of islands is governed by the Philippines from Bit-onon town on Pag-asa island. It’s Mayor, Eugenio Bito-onon Jr says it an area of harmonious intermingling of Asian fishermen dong what they have been doing for centuries, “…if you go there, fishermen from Hong Kong, Hainan, Vietnam, Malaysia go about their usual business casually, even fishing side by side at the reef…But if you read the papers, you see that (officials) just don’t stop talking, as if war will begin tomorrow…” This he said months ago when media stirred roughly as Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sailed around the disputed seas. Bit-onon has issued any SOS since the so-called “new fishery rules” either.

The real reason for the surge in eruption of tension-building news and opinion items may be discernible from the effects. The sensational “fishery rules” and “invasion” stories abruptly ended the huge international backlash against Japanese PM Shinzo Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine of the “class A” World War II war criminals of Japan was shunted aside. It has also divert attention from BS Aquino’s drop in January poll ratings again. The confirmation that the sensational stories were just news management and propaganda ploys is the Jan. 13 statement of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hernandez admitting, “I’m not aware of any plans of China to take over Pag-asa Island this year…”

As for the “Filipino traitors… who give away Philippine metals to Chinese miners,” I just came back from the north of the country and I am told: A certain politician exchanged mining rights for the freedom from Hong Kong imprisonment of his wayward child. When I went south they told me — the Japanese carting off ships upon ships of ores.

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