Author Topic: Singed by the Dragon  (Read 621 times)

hubag bohol

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Singed by the Dragon
« on: April 01, 2011, 09:15:27 AM »
The Philippines discovers that it doesn't pay to appease China.


Appeasing a rising hegemon carries a risk that one's national interest will disappear down its maw. This is a lesson the Philippines is only now beginning to learn.

On March 2, a Philippine vessel exploring for oil near islands controlled by the country found itself harassed by two Chinese patrol boats. Manila exercised restraint in avoiding an immediate conflict, but is otherwise upping the ante, diplomatically and militarily. The government registered a strong protest with Beijing last month, and this week its military chief announced defenses near the islands will get an upgrade.

This assertiveness marks a different tack from the way Manila has curried favor with Beijing until now. When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signaled greater American engagement in the South China Sea disputes last July, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo was the only leader in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to publicly demur. In December, the Philippines was one of only 19 nations that refused to send a representative to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo. Then in February, it sparked a diplomatic row with Taiwan by extraditing 14 Taiwanese citizens to the mainland, which claimed jurisdiction over them.

Why all this kowtowing? Since he came to power last June, President Benigno Aquino may have been motivated by domestic politics. The Philippine public is concerned with the welfare of the country's large population of overseas workers, and so the administration hoped Beijing would grant clemency to three Filipinos sentenced to death for drug trafficking in 2009. Despite Manila's pleas, China executed the three Wednesday.

But the Philippines's history of cozying up to Beijing goes back further, and is consistent with the balancing act Southeast Asian nations have practiced in the last decade between the U.S. and China. Renata Cruz de Castro of De La Salle University points out that even as Manila beefed up its ties with Washington post-9/11, using American assistance to tackle domestic terrorism, it also looked to China for other benefits. It stepped up bilateral trade, announced joint oil exploration and even fostered ties with the People's Liberation Army—all encouraged by Beijing's "smile diplomacy."

Most Asean members realized that this smile could quickly turn nasty once China labeled the South China Sea as a "core interest." Unless they negotiated as a group, the Middle Kingdom would pick them off one by one and reconstruct the tributary-state system of imperial times. So they have been busy bolstering military capabilities and, more importantly, re-building diplomatic bridges with the U.S.

Manila has been slower on the uptake, partly because it doesn't share a land border with China and so—unlike, say, Vietnam—hasn't experienced frontal aggression. There is also a post-colonial chip on the shoulder of some Filipinos that makes it more difficult for their leaders to forge closer ties with America.

So it will be significant if the events of the last month prove to be the beginning of a more realistic approach toward Beijing. At the very least, it's encouraging that the Aquino administration is reaching out to Washington and acknowledges it as its "sole strategic partner." That's an overdue recognition of the geopolitical reality of the day—America is the only country that can preserve the status quo in Asia.


REVIEW & OUTLOOK ASIA
APRIL 1, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703712504576234301828911760.html?mod=googlenews_wsj




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hubag bohol

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Re: Singed by the Dragon
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2011, 09:20:21 AM »
Manila has been slower on the uptake, partly because it doesn't share a land border with China and so—unlike, say, Vietnam—hasn't experienced frontal aggression. There is also a post-colonial chip on the shoulder of some Filipinos that makes it more difficult for their leaders to forge closer ties with America.

So it will be significant if the events of the last month prove to be the beginning of a more realistic approach toward Beijing. At the very least, it's encouraging that the Aquino administration is reaching out to Washington and acknowledges it as its "sole strategic partner." That's an overdue recognition of the geopolitical reality of the day—America is the only country that can preserve the status quo in Asia.

Slow on slow...

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Lorenzo

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Re: Singed by the Dragon
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2011, 09:47:10 AM »
tsk tsk tsk. indeed, appeasing a rising hegemon doesn't pay.

China knows that the Philippines is a strategic ally of the United States.

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