“I will always be on the side of those who have nothing and who are not even allowed to enjoy the nothing they have in peace.” —Federico García Lorca.
–o0o–
After several weeks of relative peace and quiet in the troublesome flashpoint of regional geopolitics—the South China Sea—comes this news that there again was an incident of ramming of Philippine vessels by the Chinese Coast Guard.
This happened on Oct. 12 in the vicinity of Thitu or Pagasa Island, the second largest in the naturally occurring islands in the Spratlys. The area is called Nansha Qundao by China, which considers it its sovereign territory.
The presence of vessels of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the area has been considered by Chinese authorities as uncalled-for provocations and attempts to create trouble.
The PCG, however, maintains this is part of the West Philippine Sea, following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s attestation that the WPS is real and not just a figment of Noynoy Aquino’s imagination.
Why is this so?
Because the clueless ex-President Benigno Aquino III let himself be swayed by the big lie of DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario during the 2012 Scarborough standoff with China that a simultaneous pullout of contending vessels had been brokered by the US. When the Philippine vessels left the area, China stayed and they are still there until today. Here’s what Rigoberto Tiglao wrote about the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea, explaining its historical perspective:
“The creation of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is, in fact, President Benigno Aquino’s bumbling attempt to conceal what is really one of the biggest boo-boos in our history: his administration’s loss of Scarborough Shoal after his foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario believed US diplomat Kurt Campbell’s claim that the Chinese had agreed to a simultaneous withdrawal of the two countries vessels from the area. There was no such agreement, only an American proposal given to Chinese diplomat Fu Ying, who two years later told the media she was just preparing to relay the proposal to her superiors in Beijing before the Filipino vessels left.
“No such WPS, according to the International Hydrographic Organization.
“We lost Scarborough Shoal to the Chinese even earlier, in May 2012, and China Coast Guard vessels routinely patrol it and drive away foreign vessels at will, as it claims the area is part of Chinese territory. How can we include it as our WPS?”
Lin at press conference
At the press conference on Oct. 15 following the latest SCS confrontation and the ramming of a Philippine vessel, a Bloomberg reporter asked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian to comment on the incident.
Lin said: “Zhongye Dao, Tiexian Jiao and Zhubi Jiao are part of China’s Nansha Qundao, which are China’s territory. Recently, the Philippines has taken organized and orchestrated moves to send a large number of ships to make provocations and create trouble in relevant waters of China’s Nansha Qundao.
“Philippine official vessels said dangerously more than once and some of them intruded into the waters off Zhubi Jiao, which resulted in the collision between the vessels of the two sides.
“The Philippines’ move severely violated China’s sovereignty and rights and interests, threaten the safety and security of Chinese vessels and personnel, and undermine peace and stability at sea.
“China’s measures to safeguard its own territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests are necessary, legitimate, lawful and beyond reproach.
“What happened shows once again that the Philippines’ deliberate infringement and provocations are the root cause behind the tensions.
“China urges the Philippines to immediately stop its infringement, provocations and vilification, and refrain from challenging China’s firm resolve to safeguard our territorial integrity and maritime rights and interests.”
The Oct. 12 ramming and water cannoning incident of a PH BFAR vessel was well documented thru video and other documents by both PH and Chinese Coast Guard, with the PCG reported it happened “near Pagasa island”.
The Associated Press provided more details of the incident. It reported that two Philippine fisheries vessels were targeted by the China Coast Guard with water cannons at least 1.6 nautical miles from Thitu (Pagasa island). One of the ships, BRP Datu Pagbuaya was rammed and slightly damaged; there were no injuries among Filipino crewmen.
Whichever way Commodore Jay Tariela spins the narrative to favor his and the United States’ bias, the truth is that it was the PH vessel which strayed into China’s Nasha Qundao territory, perhaps on purpose. It was like saying, “Go ahead, ram me!”
We believe this is deliberate because most everything that happens in maritime geopolitics is executed according to plan—even the activity called navigation calls for serious planning and precision.
Even the timing is suspect. The week that it happened saw both US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were locked in a tit-for-tat trade war about tariffs.
Trump had announced a new round of tariff increases on Chinese products imported by the US, totaling some 140 percent, to take effect on Nov. 1.
Xi countered with a strong move of his own—a ban on the export of rare earth minerals on the US and other countries which are its economic and military allies effective Nov. 1 also, and a special port tax on all American ships and vessels directly linked to American business.
The Oct. 15 incident near Pag-asa island in the Spratlys provided the alibi for the US State Department to again hit China on the issue of the South China Sea.
The Department of State issued a statement saying “the United States condemns China’s ramming and water cannoning of a Philippine vessel.”
It added: “China’s sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the SCS and its increasingly coercive actions to advance them continue to undermine regional stability and fly in the face of its prior commitments to resolve disputes peacefully.”
Access to rare earths
With the national security of the US depending on Trump’s access to rare earth minerals of which China now has an effective monopoly, the United States is studying all options to find a solution. Including perhaps the idea of starting a war with China at this time when their supply of rare earths are still intact and can last for several days.
If this is a viable option that the US government is seriously considering, it will bode evil for the Philippines, the Asian region and the rest of the world.