DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / May 12, 2014 / Daily Tribune
Exaggeration. That was my first reaction to the headlines describing “tension” over the arrest of Chinese fishermen off the Spratlys and their detention by Philippine authorities. “Tension” was also the term used by international reports I read, and I immediately suspected a coordinated build-up.
Arrests of Chinese fishermen by Philippine authorities have been going on for decades. Infinitely worse incidents have happened — like the 2012 Scarborough standoff and the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard — which had expectedly pushed nerves to the limit. But cases of poaching —notwithstanding their gravity — ought not to be blown out of proportion. Protocols in these cases are clear as diplomatic and legal processes are expected.
I explained to my radio audience the apparent exaggeration of this “tension” and we seemed to have a consensus. Philippine and Western mainstream media, in sync with the US State Department, are prone to stir up the same tempests in teacups when it comes to the China Sea issues. This tendency escalated after the “Asia pivot,” which the US announced over three years ago, raising more justification for US involvement in the region.
I did a quick research into such cases of arrests, and on the Internet I found that the Philippines’ arrests of Chinese fishermen since the 1990s numbered many, many more than reports of Chinese authorities arresting Filipino fishermen, of which I found only one.
The almost simultaneous case of the ship-ramming encounters between Chinese and Vietnamese maritime vessels at the Paracels is different. The Chinese side is moving a $1-billion oil rig into what it deems as “indisputable” Chinese territory 50 kilometers off the closest Chinese Shisha islands but 150 kilometers off the closest Vietnamese reference points. Higher officials on both sides have called for dialog to resolve the issue peacefully, although the ships of both sides are in what seems to be a “Mexican standoff” for now. That the Chinese have reiterated their desire for dialog indicates that it would not be obstinate. Shouldn’t mutual development of the resources of the area be the solution?
Brinkmanship is part of the strategy in negotiations, which both China and Vietnam are employing in their ongoing face-off. At stake may be billions of dollars of revenues from the natural wealth of the China Sea for the two parties. We hope the two sides are careful not to draw blood and, especially, not to fire anything more than water cannons at each other. At this juncture, they are avoiding what seems to be the easy habit of Philippine Coast Guard and naval personnel of being trigger happy, as was proven in the killing of the Taiwanese fisherman and now in the arrest of 11 Chinese fishermen, who yielded after supposed guns were fired in the air (or at them, as alleged, which should be investigated).
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Myanmar will be on its second working day when this column sees print. It would not be a surprise if the two incidents above happened in connection with this conference. Philippine mainstream media, reflecting the Aquino government’s strategy, created the impression, reflected in the prime establishment newspaper, the Inquirer, that “China tops Asean agenda” when, in fact, it is merely BS Aquino and his Foreign Affairs and Defense secretaries’ top agenda — not the Asean’s as a whole.
If anything, what the arrest of these Chinese fishermen will allow is for the Philippine side to raise the matter of a “joint” declaration on disputes over the China Sea, which it did not get in the last Asean meeting.
Vietnam and China are into negotiations without needing the intercession of any other international or regional bodies. Given the record of both China and Vietnam in resolving their most difficult issues, such as the border disputes that had led to military clashes some decades ago, but culminating today in cooperative efforts such as the Kunming-Hanoi road projects, it leads us to hope that the “oil rig” issue will be resolved peacefully and constructively for both.
On the other hand, relations and issues between China and the Philippines are another matter since the latter still refuses to engage in bilateral negotiations and insists on internationalizing the issue involving extraneous parties.
BS Aquino’s government is intent on raising the tempest in the teapot of the China Sea while unconcerned about the real tempest roiling with 100 million Filipinos who are experiencing or witnessing the following: 1) excruciating Mindanao power blackouts created deliberately by BS Aquino to enforce exorbitant, price-gouging power rates by the oligarchs; 2) increasing onerous taxes from Kim Henares sucking in professionals, as well as street vendors and pedicab drivers; and 3) the withholding of the Napoles “list” linking BS Aquino, his cover-up artist “Lie-la Dilemma,” and administration stalwarts.
(Tune in to “Sulo ng Pilipino” on 1098 AM, dwAD, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m.; catch GNN’s Talk News TV with HTL on Destiny Cable Channel 8, SkyCable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on “Power blackmail in Mindanao;” visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0917-8658664)
Exaggeration. That was my first reaction to the headlines describing “tension” over the arrest of Chinese fishermen off the Spratlys and their detention by Philippine authorities. “Tension” was also the term used by international reports I read, and I immediately suspected a coordinated build-up.
Arrests of Chinese fishermen by Philippine authorities have been going on for decades. Infinitely worse incidents have happened — like the 2012 Scarborough standoff and the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard — which had expectedly pushed nerves to the limit. But cases of poaching —notwithstanding their gravity — ought not to be blown out of proportion. Protocols in these cases are clear as diplomatic and legal processes are expected.
I explained to my radio audience the apparent exaggeration of this “tension” and we seemed to have a consensus. Philippine and Western mainstream media, in sync with the US State Department, are prone to stir up the same tempests in teacups when it comes to the China Sea issues. This tendency escalated after the “Asia pivot,” which the US announced over three years ago, raising more justification for US involvement in the region.
I did a quick research into such cases of arrests, and on the Internet I found that the Philippines’ arrests of Chinese fishermen since the 1990s numbered many, many more than reports of Chinese authorities arresting Filipino fishermen, of which I found only one.
The almost simultaneous case of the ship-ramming encounters between Chinese and Vietnamese maritime vessels at the Paracels is different. The Chinese side is moving a $1-billion oil rig into what it deems as “indisputable” Chinese territory 50 kilometers off the closest Chinese Shisha islands but 150 kilometers off the closest Vietnamese reference points. Higher officials on both sides have called for dialog to resolve the issue peacefully, although the ships of both sides are in what seems to be a “Mexican standoff” for now. That the Chinese have reiterated their desire for dialog indicates that it would not be obstinate. Shouldn’t mutual development of the resources of the area be the solution?
Brinkmanship is part of the strategy in negotiations, which both China and Vietnam are employing in their ongoing face-off. At stake may be billions of dollars of revenues from the natural wealth of the China Sea for the two parties. We hope the two sides are careful not to draw blood and, especially, not to fire anything more than water cannons at each other. At this juncture, they are avoiding what seems to be the easy habit of Philippine Coast Guard and naval personnel of being trigger happy, as was proven in the killing of the Taiwanese fisherman and now in the arrest of 11 Chinese fishermen, who yielded after supposed guns were fired in the air (or at them, as alleged, which should be investigated).
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Myanmar will be on its second working day when this column sees print. It would not be a surprise if the two incidents above happened in connection with this conference. Philippine mainstream media, reflecting the Aquino government’s strategy, created the impression, reflected in the prime establishment newspaper, the Inquirer, that “China tops Asean agenda” when, in fact, it is merely BS Aquino and his Foreign Affairs and Defense secretaries’ top agenda — not the Asean’s as a whole.
If anything, what the arrest of these Chinese fishermen will allow is for the Philippine side to raise the matter of a “joint” declaration on disputes over the China Sea, which it did not get in the last Asean meeting.
Vietnam and China are into negotiations without needing the intercession of any other international or regional bodies. Given the record of both China and Vietnam in resolving their most difficult issues, such as the border disputes that had led to military clashes some decades ago, but culminating today in cooperative efforts such as the Kunming-Hanoi road projects, it leads us to hope that the “oil rig” issue will be resolved peacefully and constructively for both.
On the other hand, relations and issues between China and the Philippines are another matter since the latter still refuses to engage in bilateral negotiations and insists on internationalizing the issue involving extraneous parties.
BS Aquino’s government is intent on raising the tempest in the teapot of the China Sea while unconcerned about the real tempest roiling with 100 million Filipinos who are experiencing or witnessing the following: 1) excruciating Mindanao power blackouts created deliberately by BS Aquino to enforce exorbitant, price-gouging power rates by the oligarchs; 2) increasing onerous taxes from Kim Henares sucking in professionals, as well as street vendors and pedicab drivers; and 3) the withholding of the Napoles “list” linking BS Aquino, his cover-up artist “Lie-la Dilemma,” and administration stalwarts.
(Tune in to “Sulo ng Pilipino” on 1098 AM, dwAD, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m.; catch GNN’s Talk News TV with HTL on Destiny Cable Channel 8, SkyCable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on “Power blackmail in Mindanao;” visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0917-8658664)
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