“As diplomats, both the US and Chinese ambassadors should instead contribute to the cooling of tensions”
About two weeks ago, PBBM gave the Armed Forces a new marching order.
This is to concentrate on territorial defense with emphasis on the West Philippine Sea.
For the past several years, the AFP has actually been moving in this direction but the President’s order indicates a new sense of urgency.
Whether this order was influenced by what many countries in the region are doing or solely due to the continued actions of China on our Coast Guard patrol vessels, we can only speculate.
But if we scan what is happening in the region, most of the powerful countries around us are all increasing their defense spending.
China has just announced a 7.2 per cent increase in its defense budget while Japan recently announced a whopping $340M new investment for defense.
Australia, not to be outdone, just announced it is buying about five Virginia class nuclear submarines from the United States that will eventually cost about $268B after three decades.
Even tiny Singapore will also buy about eight fifth generation US F-35B fighter planes.
Indonesia and Malaysia for their part have been for some time modernizing their military capabilities.
The US, apart from its already huge defense budget, is investing another $78B to fortify Guam and its other possessions in the Pacific Ocean.
For us, however, whatever new military assets we have acquired or have ordered all pale in comparison to what our neighbors are capable of acquiring.
We just took delivery of some naval patrol boats from Israel and just ordered another six 94-meter Offshore Patrol Boats from South Korea’s Hyundai.
All these are hardly enough considering that China is building a navy so fast that will soon be twice as large as the US navy.
Given this situation, we have to wonder what our defense planners have in mind to confront this difficult situation we are in.
As of now, it appears our men in uniform are the ones dominating current policy directions on how the country should respond to what China has been doing in the SCS and WPS.
Whether, of course, this is the best way forward is another matter.
This is because the dynamics of the WPS or SCS issue is a lot broader than military matters alone.
Former NSA Dr. Clarita Carlos, for instance, believes the President should seek advice from a broader sector to include political scientists like herself that all corners of the problem are covered.
To her, it is myopic and even foolhardy to depend on the military alone for advice on such a complicated issue.
She, of course, has a point.
After all, the SCS, WPS and the Taiwan issue are a lot broader than just being a military problem unless the countries involved have decided that military conflict can no longer be avoided.
Let us hope, however, there are cooler heads in all the countries involved including us that will chill the situation so diplomacy can take over instead of the constant beating of war drums.
The war in Ukraine, which is already affecting the world in more ways than one, should tell and remind us what will happen if the world powers get involved in another conflict to widen that war which is causing so much misery to non-combatants.
It would be catastrophic for the whole world.
The ambassadors of both China and the United States should also cool down their verbal wrangling in the press because it is only increasing the tension.
For one, not too many people would probably believe the US ambassador when she said that the prepositioning of equipment on the selected military bases for joint use would only be for disaster and relief operations.
The Chinese ambassador for his part should stop telling us what is in our best interest.
This is not the first time he has done that.
He should just let us determine what is in our best interest.
What he is doing is unheard of in diplomacy.
Diplomats assigned to countries do not go about telling the country where they are assigned how to conduct their foreign policy.
No wonder, Senator Koko Pimentel was forced to respond to his lecturing.
As diplomats, both the US and Chinese ambassadors should instead contribute to the cooling of tensions.
They could serve the interests of their countries better that way.
But when everything is said and done, much will depend on how we ourselves will determine the best way forward.
Right now, we are signaling to China that as far as the WPS issue is concerned, we have simply gotten tired of the many failed promises and the perceived unreasonable harassments of our patrol vessels.
This is one of the most likely reasons why EDCA, which has been languishing for six years, suddenly sprung back to life with a flurry of activities.
The runway of Basa Air base in Pampanga will be improved and extended.
The largest joint military exercise with the US has just started with more in the pipeline.
All these must be very satisfactory to our AFP.
China, on the other hand, is understandably sore but all this because of its refusal to give an inch to harvest a lot more.