Only India has the muscle to flex against China in Asia amid overlapping territorial claims by several nations in the South China Sea, political analyst and University of Santo Tomas professor Marlon Villarin told Daily Tribune and Dyaryo Tirada.
Guesting on the digital show "Hot Patatas," Villarin pointed out that India has an ace up its sleeve when it comes to dealing with China, one that is more economic in nature despite the fact that both New Delhi and Beijing are nuclear powers.
Villarin cited India's nearly adversarial reaction to China's release of a new map that expanded its discredited nine-dash line claim with an extra dash covering the east of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
He explained that while China is using military might to assume the role of an overlord in the South China Sea, India holds weight when it comes to another critical trade route, the Indian Ocean.
"Within Asia, India has the capability to strong-arm China because of the Indian Ocean and the other important trade routes in India that are crucial to China's economy," the political science professor said.
Rules-based look
He noted that India and China have a long history of trade-relation tension between them. "To cut a long story short, China whimpers when it comes to India," he said. "India has leverage against China, while if it's the European Union speaking out against Beijing, nothing happens."
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. left yesterday for Jakarta, Indonesia for the 43rd ASEAN Summit, saying he'll bring to the table a rules-based look at the irritants among nations in the South China Sea.
Mr. Marcos said the government was still cementing its response to China's expanded 10-dash line claim, although several high-ranking Filipino officials have joined their Indian and Malaysian counterparts in denouncing China.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China's nine-dash line claim had no legal leg to stand on as no one country can control international bodies of water. It also affirmed the Philippines' maritime entitlement in the West Philippine Sea.
"What's sad is that while America is angry over China's intrusion, here comes the United Kingdom mumbling that 'it's not really good to escalate [the situation] with China,'" professor Villarin said.
He averred that India protesting China's new map was just another instance of Beijing intruding into Indian territory. Previously, India had protested Beijing's claim that the whole of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region were part of China.
Rational view
Arunachal Pradesh is a northeastern state in India while the Aksai Chin region is part of Jammu and Kashmir at the center of the long-standing tug-of-war between the two countries.
"Taking Indian territories has been an old habit of China's," according to an official New Delhi response published by the news website Anadolu Agency.
Earlier, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called on countries to "view this map in an objective and rational manner."
"Updating and releasing various types of standard maps each year is a routine job for competent authorities in China, which aims to provide standard map services for all sectors of society and raise the public's awareness of the standardized use of maps," Wang told Beijing-based Global Times.
Taiwan, meanwhile, has also protested China's new map with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu saying, "Taiwan, the Republic of China, is a sovereign and independent country that is not subordinate to the People's Republic of China."
"The PRoC has never ruled Taiwan. These are universally recognized facts and the status quo in the international community," Liu said.
