San Antonio, Zambales 12 June 2024 — On Independence Day, Fisherfolk Group Slams US Intervention.
12 June 2024
The Second Thomas Shoal is 779 km from San Antonio, Zambales, and the Scarborough Shoal is 230 km away. Incredibly courageous fisherfolk spend their lives on that water, making a living from the bounty of a capricious sea. However, life at sea is one of the most dangerous ways to make a living. They do not need to contend with global politics and life’s natural challenges on the sea. Yet, they are.*
The Fisherfolk group, Pamalakaya, confided in Joanna Aglibot of Inquirer.net that there is “Nothing to celebrate,” adding, “Until now, the presence and influence of other countries have been felt in the political, economic, and military fields.” During a protest at the US embassy, Bobby Roldan, Pamalakaya Vice Chair for Luzon, said he “believed that the US Military presence is not a deterrent to China’s expansion.”
What does Mr. Roldan of Pamalakaya expect to happen regarding any third-party intervention in the West Philippine Sea?
1982**
The best place to start is in the history of China’s expansion in the South China Sea. We began in 1982.
On 10 December 1982, the UNCLOS (United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea) began. UNCLOS established exclusive economic zones (EEZ), which are regions outside a nation’s territorial waters that belong solely to the country adjacent to that section of the sea or ocean (it isn’t a spoiler to point out that the West Philippean Sea is nowhere near China’s EEZ. We’ll get there).
After a conflict with Vietnam over the Spratly Archipelago in 1988, the Chinese Passed their Law on the Territorial Sea in 1992. This Law is where we all meet the now infamous nine-dash or ten-dash line. According to the Chinese, they have a historical claim to the South China Sea dating from 200 BCE to 9 CE (the time of the Western Han Dynasty). The Chinese conjured up this Law on the Territorial Sea to stop the passage of the Soviet Union and US ships from navigating peacefully through the South China Sea. They also attempted to coerce the UNCLOS to close off the waters. That did not work.
In January 1998, then-US President Bill Clinton worked with former Chinese President Jiang Zemin to develop a Chinese Blue Water Navy. If one could blame the US for any specific action in this situation, I would suspect it was this action by Toga Party Billy Boy. This 26-year-old mistake will come back to haunt us in a few years, if not already.
On 22 July 2010, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, under Obama, echoed the policy of the US Government that the US is nutral on the question of the South China Sea. She tells the US-ASEAN ministers that the US seeks “open access to Asia’s maritime commons,”
On 7 September 2010, the Chinese clashed with not the US, not the Russians, not the Philippines, but the Japanese Coast Guard.
On 1 June 2011, the Philippines summoned the Chinese envoy to voice concerns about Chinese expansion. In October of that same year, during the Occupy Wall Street protests all over the US and Europe, after a clash between Filipino and Chinese vessels, the Philippines expressed their “inherent power and right to designate its maritime areas.” The Philippines gave birth to the West Philippine Sea. Binabati kita!
In 2012, Abe Shinzo of Japan warned that the South China Sea is becoming “Lake Beijing.” In November 2012, Xi Jinping was “elected” President of the People’s Republic of China.
This procession of events brings us to 8 April 2012 and the Scarborough Shoal incident. To quote China’s Maritime Disputes, “Diplomatic relations between Manila and Beijing decline further after the Philippines dispatches a warship to confront Chinese fishing boats in the Scarborough Shoal, north of the Spratlys. China subsequently dispatches its own surveillance vessels to protect its fishermen, and a two-month standoff ensues.” We will get back to this later.
It is almost anticlimactic at this point. On 22 January 2013, the Philippines filed for UN arbitration over Chinese Claims. In May 2013, Japan offered the Philippines military aid. On 28 April 2014, Obama signed off on a new defense pact with the Philippines. On 12 July 2016, UNCLOS in the Hague ruled that the Chinese nine-dash line has no legal basis.
Rodrigo Duterte said he would send troops on a “Suicide Mission” if China continues to send ships. That never happened, and more recently, the Chinese accuse President Duterte of entering into some “Gentlemen’s Agreement” with them concerning the Second Thomas Shoal (see Ex-President Duterte-China’ agreement’ on Ayungin bared, jeered below).
The Philippines welcomed an expanded military presence on 4 February 2023, and finally, on 11 April 2024, we reached the Trilateral Agreement between Japan, the Philippines, and the USA.
Opinions
The Diplomat says, “76% of Filipinos View China as Country’s ‘Greatest Threat’: Survey.” Financial Time reports, “Philippines says China poses ‘existential’ threat in South China Sea” South China Morning Post shouts, ” South China Sea: survey shows 73% of Filipinos support military action against Beijing” Finally on 11 June 2024 from Manila as quoted by Reuters, “President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the Philippines should be prepared for any eventuality due to heightened tension in the Indo-Pacific region regarding sovereignty claims in the South China Sea as well as security issues around neighbouring Taiwan.” ***
This returns us to Bobby Roldan and Pamalakaya. Why are they protesting at the US embassy? If the US takes action, it is bad. If the US doesn’t take action, it is bad.
It is not incumbent upon the USA to clear China out of Philippines’ waters. The US has its own issues to address. It is, however, the full responsibility of the Philippine Navy to clear hostile forces out of the Philippines’ waters. The US Navy will back the Philippines Navy in a fight. That the USA agreed to do. Mr. Roldan, and Ang Pamalakaya, need to come to grips with the situation. If they want to be free of the Chinese, they have to sink the Chinese. There is no alternative!
*Aglibot, Joanna R. “On Independence Day, fisherfolk group slams US intervention.” Inquirer.net. Last modified 13 June, 2024. Accessed 12 June 2024. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1950798/on-independence-day-fisherfolk-group-slams-us-intervention.
*Ang Pamalakaya. Accessed 13 June 2024. https://angpamalakaya.org/.
X, formally Twitter: @pama_pil
**”China’s Maritime Disputes.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed 13 June 2024. https://www.cfr.org/timeline/chinas-maritime-disputes.
**A blue-water navy is a maritime force capable of operating globally across the deep waters of open oceans. While definitions of such a force vary, the ability to exercise sea control at long range is a requirement.
Wikipedia contributors, “Blue-water navy,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue-water_navy&oldid=1227472780 (accessed 13 June 2024).
**”It’s not a secret deal,” Roque said in a video interview with the Politiko news site.
***Strangio, Sebastian. “76% of Filipinos View China as Country’s ‘Greatest Threat’: Survey.” The Diplomat, June 7, 2024. https://thediplomat.com/2024/06/76-of-filipinos-view-china-as-countrys-greatest-threat-survey/.
“Philippines must prepare as external threats grow, president says.” Asia Pacific . Reuters, June 11, 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippines-must-prepare-external-threat-now-more-worrisome-president-says-2024-06-11/.
Philippines: Bangsamoro, A Triumph of Western Diplomacy? | Small Wars Journal. https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/comment/37813
Tan, A. (2021). Tipping the Scale: PRC’s Military Modernization and Cross-Taiwan Straits Relations. Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1177/2347797014536642
As China’s Blue-Water Navy Continues Massive Expansion, US Navy Secretary Says Climate Is His ‘Top Priority’ – RedState. https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2023/03/18/as-chinas-blue-water-navy-continues-massive-expansion-us-navy-secretary-says-climate-is-his-top-priority-n718486
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