Captive crowd at Boao

Captive crowd at Boao | Daily Tribune

China hijacked the recent Boao Forum for Asia, which is supposedly Asia’s counterpart of the Davos World Economic Forum, to spew propaganda and malign the Philippines amid the recent upsurge in hostilities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

It was improper for China to exploit the gathering of Australia-Asia leaders in its own country to push an agenda that has been discredited internationally and which the international arbitral tribunal had declared as being without basis.

Forum discussions that should have been devoted to the region’s economic prospects in parallel with the global economy became heavily tainted by the maritime conflict, which included a litany of justifications for the invalid China 10-dash line.

During a panel discussion, Yang Renhuo, deputy director general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, “Ren’ai Reef (China’s name for Ayungin Shoal) is part of China’s Nansha Islands and is Chinese territory.”

He then accused the Philippines of attempting to invade and occupy Chinese territory using the grounded BRP Sierra Madre, which is utter nonsense.

The dilapidated tank landing ship was intentionally grounded in 1999 to serve as an outpost in the country’s exclusive economic zone, as provided under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“The current tense maritime situation is caused by the Philippines’ constant provocations, and the responsibility lies entirely with the Philippines,” Yang continued.

He then parroted the Chinese leadership, who stated, “out of humanitarian considerations, China has never obstructed the Philippines from sending necessary living supplies to the grounded warship.”

He said that in the face of the Philippines’ forcible action of transporting construction supplies to fortify the vessel, which is falling apart, “China has to take necessary measures of rights protection and law enforcement. But our onsite maneuvers are professional and restrained, as well as legitimate and legal, which are irreproachable.”

In the most recent sea skirmish that destroyed a supply boat after the continuous blasting of water cannons by two China Coast Guard ships, four Filipino Navy crewmen suffered injuries.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines maintains that it is the country’s right to prevent the BRP Sierra Madre from falling apart since it is an outpost manned by Philippine Marines.

Yang claimed that behind the infringement and provocations “is the incitement and action of sowing discord by certain external forces. Such an action seriously endangers regional peace and stability and is unpopular and doomed to fail.”

“Certain major countries outside the region are exercising unbridled freedom in the name of freedom of navigation. Some international forces deliberately highlight the conflicts and disputes in the (West Philippine Sea), stir things up, disturb regional cooperation, and undermine the unity of regional countries.”

In an apparent reference to the United States, the Chinese official gave the Communist Party’s perspective that the maritime friction is really between the two superpowers, with the Philippines willingly lending itself to implementing the US agenda of containing the Asian power.

Thus, China has tried to gloss over the legitimacy of the Philippine position, which was upheld by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016.

Exploiting the Boao Forum to uphold its indefensible stance based mainly on its 10-dash line covering the entire disputed sea is in line with Beijing’s pressure on other countries not to take sides in the territorial spat by dangling economic strings, such as huge investments and loans to some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

It mirrors the practice of ignoring international norms while insisting on a point that Beijing has failed to prove by avoiding an independent forum to prove its validity.