"If China is indeed a true friend, it should not take offense when we forcefully say that what it is doing is wrong."
"If China is indeed a true friend, it should not take offense when we forcefully say that what it is doing is wrong."
It may indeed just be “a little maritime incident” as described by the President. Still, the abandonment of those Filipino fishermen after the sinking of F/B Gem Vir 1 deserves the highest form of condemnation. Regardless of whether the collision was intentional or not, the captain of the Chinese vessel should not have abandoned the Filipino fishermen to drown. By leaving the scene, the Chinese captain violated a centuries-old sea faring tradition not to leave fellow mariners to die. Even during war, combatants do not leave the scene if there are survivors of a vessels that have been sunk due to enemy action.
We have read stories of how, during World War II, submarines torpedo surface ships and then rescued enemy sailors floating in the water.
Maybe our President should have condemned the Chinese captain’s actions, but he decided not to. In fact, many senior administration officials issued statements that contradicted the version of the Filipino fishing boat captain. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, the Cabinet Coordinator for Mimaropa, did not initially believe the Filipino captain’s version of the story. DFA Secretary Locsin filed a diplomatic protest while Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana condemned the sinking forcefully. During the Navy anniversary celebration, the President said that he will wait for the result of an inquiry. By whom? The Chinese, us or jointly? If separate, which report should the Palace believe?
Going over the available statements coming from the Filipino fishermen and the Chinese embassy in Manila, the embassy statements do not add up to the statements by the Filipino fishermen and the skipper of the Vietnamese fishing boat that rescued our fishermen. If the Chinese militia vessel had to leave the scene because of a swarm of Filipino vessels in the area, why were the fishermen rescued by a Vietnamese vessel and not by a Filipino vessel? This simply shows that there were no other Filipino vessels in the immediate vicinity of the incident. Had the Vietnamese vessel not been in the area and the Filipino fishermen drowned, would that have been enough for our President to issue a stronger protest?
I fully understand the need to maintain a cordial relationship with our giant neighbor and our country’s leaders should indeed strive for such a relationship. As it is however, our current state of relationship with China is inconsistent and confusing. Everything revolves around what the President wants. This is the reason why we are seeing contradictory statements coming from some of our senior officials. The public is being left to discern the real intentions of the government. On many occasions, the President has been saying that going to war against China will only result in the massacre of our soldiers. I do not know of anyone in the country wanting to go to war with China. But if China is indeed a true friend, it should not take offense when we forcefully say that what it is doing is wrong. Issuing stronger protests do not mean that we want war. The very low key approach of the administration seems to be the big difference between the administration and its critics in the political opposition. I do not see the administration’s tack changing in the near future. But the President has shown in the past the capacity of being able to change his position abruptly but what will trigger this is the big mystery.
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What is inexplicable—and I am sure the public is also wondering—is why our President does not want to make a stronger diplomatic protest on the actions of the Chinese militia boat skipper. China seems to have a mystical hold on our President.
To be fair to him, although he has been saying that he will not send his soldiers to war only to be massacred, he has been quietly approving the build-up of our military capability with the acquisition of new ships, aircraft, and the formation of additional ten infantry battalions. This is what makes his true intentions hard to fathom.
Is he doing what he is doing to buy time to build a more respectable Armed Forces? The Air Force is now scouting for a new multi-role fighter planes. The Navy is ordering more frigates and bigger patrol boats. His statement a couple of weeks ago that no country cannot claim a whole ocean was also loaded if China was paying attention.
With regard to Filipino soldiers being massacred by the Chinese military, it might be instructive to go back a little bit in history. During the Korean War, Filipino soldiers engaged Chinese soldiers in the so-called battle of Yultong. In that engagement, the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Battalion did our country proud. Thousands of Chinese troops attacked the United Nations position in Yultong and nearby areas. Due to the number of Chinese troops involved, some of the UN troops withdrew like the Turks and British leaving the 10th Infantry Battalion surrounded. After repeated attacks by the Chinese, they never dislodged the Filipinos from their position and they suffered tremendous casualties.
Some estimates put the figure to more than a thousand. The Filipinos suffered 12 dead, six missing and a couple of dozen wounded. When General McArthur was informed about the Filipino feat, he reportedly remarked: “Give me 10,000 Filipino soldiers and I will conquer the world.”
It was a fitting tribute to the gallantry of Filipino soldiers. It shows that the Filipino soldier can be depended upon to do his duty. But nobody wants war. We Filipinos do not want it and am sure the Chinese people do not either. Let us therefore live in peace respecting each other’s territory.