The world will witness Philippine efforts to make peace with China over tensions regarding the disputed West Philippine (South China) Sea, the President said in an ambush interview with reporters at the 114th Foundation Anniversary of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City.
Asked if the Philippines is capable of engaging China in armed conflict should the tensions with Beijing further escalate, Aquino said, “We are always ready... based on our own limitations. Pero... having thoughts of armed conflict.. enhance the prospects of having an armed conflict...
Most Chinese and foreign security policy analysts believe China wants to avoid military conflict across sea lanes that carry an annual $5 trillion in ship-borne trade, particularly if it raises the prospect of US intervention, according to a Reuters report Thursday.
However, they say Beijing is increasingly determined to block any unified effort from rival claimants to negotiate over disputes, preferring instead to isolate much smaller and weaker states in direct talks.
China has adopted a more aggressive stance in recent weeks on territorial disputes in the South China Sea as hard-line officials and commentators call on Beijing to take a tougher line with rival claimants.
“China's supreme policymaking body, the Politburo Standing Committee, is made up entirely of civilians, but outspoken People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers, intelligence advisers and maritime agency chiefs are arguing that Beijing should be more forceful in asserting its sovereignty over the sea and the oil and natural gas believed to lie under the sea-bed,” Reuters noted.
Most of them blame the United States' so-called strategic "pivot" to Asia for emboldening neighboring countries, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam, to challenge China's claims, the report added.
"China now faces a whole pack of aggressive neighbors headed by Vietnam and the Philippines and also a set of menacing challengers headed by the United States, forming their encirclement from outside the region," wrote Xu Zhirong, a deputy chief captain with China Marine Surveillance, in the June edition of China Eye, a publication of the Hong Kong-based China Energy Fund Committee, Reuters reported.
"And, such a band of eager lackeys is exactly what the US needs for its strategic return to Asia," he wrote.
The Philippines and China have been locked in a standoff over Panatag Shoal since April, with both countries claiming sovereign rights over the shoal.
“So ulitin ko lang ho, sinabi ko nung SONA… kailangan nating ng hinahon, kailangan ng pagsasaliksik ng mabuti at mareresolba natin ‘yan at talagang mapapangalagaan natin ang interes ng sambayanan,” said Aquino.
“And let us reiterate, our interest is a peaceful resolution of this conflict,” he added.
Tourism and bananas
Tourism and bananas
A retired journalist who was based in Beijing said during a forum Friday in the financial district of Makati the dispute with China is bad for business.
It could mean a “difficult period” for the country’s banana exports and tourism industry, where China plays a significant role, said Emmy award-winning journalist Chito Santa Romana, a former Beijing bureau chief of ABC News.
“I think there is still a potential for developing banana exports (and tourism). But we’re going through a difficult period right now,”
In the heat of the standoff over Panatag Shoal last May, China imposed tighter phytosanitary measures for Philippine bananas after it allegedly saw bugs in the shipments.
Also last May, China issued an advisory suspending tourism flights to the Philippines after Filipino society groups staged a protest against Beijing’s growing aggression in West Philippine Sea. The protest was staged in front of the Chinese consulate in Makati City.
Santa Romana said the Philippines and China should “get (the dispute) off the back-burner” to normalize trade relations with the world’s second largest economy.
“You need gestures of good will on both sides and we have to meet halfway in order to meet normal relations,” Santa Romana said during a forum on the impact of the Panatag Shoal dispute on the Philippine economy.
The Philippine-China Conflict Forum was organized by the Center for Philippine Futuristics.
China is the fourth largest source of foreign visitors in the Philippines. Tourist arrivals from China increased by 29.7 percent to 243,137 in 2011 from 187,446 in 2010.
Before the travel advisory was issued by China, the Philippines was targeting 2 million Chinese tourists by 2016, Santa Romana said. — With a report by Marc Cayabya/BM/VS, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
