Around a hundred members from Akbayan Party protested outside of the Chinese Consular office inMakati Thursday morning to condemn the Chinese government’s military incursions into the West Philippine Sea even as they called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and demilitarization of contested areas.
Wearing masks of the popular cartoon character Po from the popular Kung Fu Panda cartoon movie, the protesters said the gentle and happy cartoon protagonist in the fantasy world version of China is a hero who goes against bullies and those who upset the peace—something, which they asserted, the Chinese government is guilty of behaving like in the West Philippine Sea.
“We reiterate our call to the Chinese government to respect our sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea and refrain from making further military incursions,” Akbayan Rep. Walden bello said.
The partylist lawmaker said that with the rising tension in the area, involved country governments should take the lead in diffusing the tension by scaling down in military presence and work for the eventual demilitarization of contested areas.
“It’s just proper that all claimants go back to using diplomatic channels and demilitarize contested areas. As the saying goes, ‘you can’t talk peace and have a gun.’ However, in order to begin that process, there should be no further incursions into areas occupied by other claimants. China, being the biggest in the area and having the strongest armed forces among the claimants should show some magnanimity and set the first example,” Bello said.
Bello also disapproved of the Chinese government’s absolutist claims to the contested area.
“Offensive”
“Based on legitimate reports, the Chinese navy intruded into Philippine waters. Instead of apologizing and harmonizing future actions, they called on the Philippines and other claimants to respect their supreme sovereignty over the entire West Philippine Sea and refrain from making statements that are deemed irresponsible and incendiary. I think this is very offensive,” Bello said.
Bello claimed that the actions and statements of China are worlds apart.
“Saying that all claimants should return to the negotiating table is a step in the right direction. However, such statements seem to remain as mere statements especially with the strong military presence of the Chinese government in our territory,” Bello said.
US intervention, unnecessary
Akbayan also called on the United States government not to intervene in the issue saying it is a regional matter that should be addressed by the parties involved.
“The crisis started when a strong military power in the area threw its weight around instead of settling things in a diplomatic manner. We don’t need the US doing the same thing here since it will just complicate the matter even further. It would be best for the US to concentrate on its own affairs,” according to Bello.
Bello, together with fellow Akbayan lawmaker Kaka Bag-ao, filed a resolution urging the government to change the name South China Sea to Western Philippine Sea for areas that are within the EEZ of the Philippines. The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defense have likewise followed Akbayan’s lead in referring to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea.
The West Philippine Sea, which contains all the area claimed by the Philippines under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which it is a signatory to has been a flashpoint in regional affairs with 6 countries claiming a part or all of the area.
The UNCLOs provides an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 200 hundred nautical miles from the baseline of countries. Under this treaty, a country has sole exploitation rights over its own EEZ. The Spratlys are an estimated 700 nautical miles from the baseline of China. ###
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