Advantage over China

The middle finger “up yours” salute to China’s twisted propaganda claim that she handily “expelled” Filipino vessels came on a pitch-black Tuesday night in the waters of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal).

That evening and all through Labor Day, the crewmen aboard the damaged BRP Bankaw, a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) boat, unloaded food and fuel for the intrepid Filipino fishermen at the fish-rich shoal.

The successful breaching of the Chinese blockade and the supply run was stark evidence that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the BFAR had completed their mission.

The crewmen of the Bankaw and the PCG vessel, despite enduring water cannon attacks and ramming by China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels, showed that China had lost in its latest act of aggression.

Yet, in her twisted imagination, China — together with her equally twisted and treasonous Filipino cohorts — stood by its false claim of a win. Was there really a win when the Filipino vessels had successfully delivered supplies to the fishermen?

We have to ask that question if only to soberly assess the effects of China’s latest abuse, the seventh such attack in the WPS in recent months.

China’s latest severe water cannon attacks, of course, were admittedly provocative and emotionally draining to the point that calls for retaliation against CCG vessels seem justified.

But sobriety is the better course. More likely, the provocative attacks are intended to bait us into making rash decisions. But we shouldn’t, particularly since the country arguably still has the upper hand in our war of nerves with China. That particular point is probably why the PCG says there is no need for retaliation.

Still, even if the CCG’s provocations fail to bait us, we, nonetheless, must take to heart that China’s recent aggressions are part and parcel of her strategic game plan to counter our country’s growing assertiveness in the disputed waters.

Our growing assertiveness, especially the country’s “assertive transparency” tactics — which provide striking evidence of China’s use of non-conventional arms — infuriates Chinese officials no end.

China’s relentless aggression, at any rate, is obviously intended to wear us down and force us to back down and convince us that China is too powerful and we don’t stand a chance against her.

If that intention sounds all too familiar, it is also because it is the exact same propaganda line of China’s Filipino cohorts, who in recent days were reportedly trying to influence scores of community newspapers all over the country.

Still, even if we momentarily do have the advantage, we should all the more keep our guard up and fortify even further our newly found resolve against Chinese provocations.

In fact, this is the context of the reported plan of our security officials who said recently they were weighing new approaches.

On this, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said our current maritime operations in the West Philippine Sea need to be “less telegraphic,” adding that “if you are stuck in one mode, it is easy to anticipate.”

“We are re-strategizing the way we do things, naturally with the end in view of both preventing injuries and, number two, upholding the dignity of our country,” Teodoro told a news outfit last Tuesday.

The Defense boss didn’t elaborate on the strategic adjustments, for obvious reasons, except to generally say that security officials have a “range of options” to counter China. What those “range of options” are remains to be seen.

Teodoro, nonetheless, emphasized that the whole of the country’s security apparatus is of a mind never to compromise the country’s presence at Bajo de Masinloc and at Ayungin Shoal.

“We will not enter into any modus vivendi that will compromise our position regarding our rights,” said Teodoro, a strategic position that we all must certainly endorse and approve of.