vmg: Philippine-China dispute

There is no Huangyan Island in the Philippines. Literally, none.

The island and its name is perhaps, a Chinese invention.

But we have oil. In fact, rich deposit of oil where Chinese vessels or fleets flocked at Panatag shoal (international named as Scarborough shoal) to explore (without their application and permits) under the guise of fishing. National experts bared that our “west Philippine Sea has vast deposits of oil and natural gas estimated at 16.6 trillion cubic feet that could last a century, based on the research done by the Department of Energy (DFA, 2012). These information was bared to group of Filipino-Chinese investors last May 8 in a conference aimed at forging ties “for new economic opportunities.”

I honestly wondered if the same information is shared to other foreign investors who could be interested for economic cooperation and joint production within the island. Some legal procedure should be observed if this government is indeed hell bent for cooperative production and utilization of oil and natural gas deposits. This country cannot agree of an aggressive political semantic demonstrative of greed as such strategy is bereft of business ethics.

But why should China resort to such aggressiveness and aggression?

Fisher (2008) disclosed that China, with 1.3-1.5 billion population, has an estimated oil consumption of about 8-10 million barrels of oil everyday for their 100 millions of automobiles and fleet of trucks, factories and for heating homes. Fisher (2008) comparatively bared that if “Japan consumes 14 barrels of oil a year per capita, Europe consumes 17 and America consumes 25, China could consume 18 billion barrels annually.”

Since they have escalating need for oil, Chinese government should reduce their over dependency to automobiles and start advocating an eco-friendly lifestyle. For sometime, ASEAN neighbors have looked at them as model for sustainable living but their advancement have observably or inadvertently neglected to balance their capacity as steward of their own resources. Employing aggression and intrusion to other sovereign states to quench their needs do not only violate international norms, laws and protocols but also mirror the inability of their leaders to refine national growth within the framework of genuine sustainable development. Just as the country is prominent of yoga and reflection to balance yin and yang, I’d rather suggest that China, as an advanced/modernized nation, should review their economic system, recreate balance to optimize their resources, and reduce oil consumption. Such way, they might be able to gain political correctness, too.

References:

DFA (2012). DFA, Filipino-Chinese Business Group Agree to Forge Ties and Explore New Economic Opportunities, Mla, Philippines.

Fisher, R. W. (2008). A Perspective of China, Remarks to a Working Dinner Sponsored by the Progress and Freedom Foundation, Federal Reserve Ban k of Dallas, Texas, US.

Most conflicts are economically-driven. As controversies on Scarborough shoal heightened, we need to understand the diverse dynamism within Phil-Chinese relations.

In earlier centuries, Philippines welcomed Chinese merchants for barter and trading. Their business was focused on paper-based products, livestock, pharmaceutical and plastic toys. Chinese merchants later started pouring investments for manufacturing industry (Dela Cruz, 2008). The latter include textiles. Many of them are into infrastructure and real estate investments as they have evidently constructed hotels, malls, restaurants, and the like.

Over the years, China ranked as among the top leading traders of our country with an investment of less than US$ 1. 5 B (Del Rosario, 2012). They expanded agricultural interest over 1.2 million hectares of agricultural areas, part of which is aimed at producing rice, sorghum, corn and ethanol (Dela Cruz, 2008). Some of these are done in Palawan areas.

In return, China accommodated an estimated 200,000 overseas Filipino skilled workers. These are either teachers, IT experts (working on US-owned companies operating in mainland China) and in the hospitality industry (working in hotels, restaurants etc.). They import our bananas and other agri-products. For leisure and enjoyment, they also open its gates as tourist destination for neighboring countries. Del Rosario (2012) accounted that Philippine investment in China is greater (than China's investment in our country) at nearly US $ 3 B.

As our government open the mineral exploration and production to foreign investments, the Chinese business sector also leaped to engage in mining for chromite, gold, and silver in Mindanao. The mining operations are not without controversies as these are met with local oppositions due to its encroachment in indigenous people's ancestral domain; potential vast ecological destruction; human rights and security-related concerns; and, policy-related violations.

Recently, China offered Philippine government substantial amount as loan to cover for the improvement of infrastructure facilities e.g. Angat Dam, railway system, airport, roads, & ports (Dela Cruz, 2008). We're never certain what went on with these projects. Whilst we struggle against the sale of Agus and Pulangi hydropower complexes, China positioned itself to benefit from our power industry by investing on our main transmission assets.

As this bilateral relations progress, we now confront China's controversial claim over Scarborough shoal---geographically located within our territorial and maritime area. This isn't just about fishes, certainly. However, while the controversy is brought to international court for resolve, stakeholders of this country should continually learn more for us to ascertain China's strategic direction under this bilateral relation. Indeed, the issue isn't only challenging territorial and security concerns. It’s also challenging our executive and legislatures about how foreign policy and regulations are enforced.

Amid these developments, China's political norm needs to be noted too. Bhaskar (2012) pointed that China's officials are divided in their stance pertaining to foreign relations and diplomatic strategies. Those who belong to the "internationalists" prefer compliance with international norms and of optimizing system for global governance (Bhaskar, 2012). They weigh more significance on social cohesion and interrelation above sovereign power. The other group, "realists", likes the utilization of military power to illustrate their dominance in the international scene. This view dominated in the current claim over areas marked under disputes. This simply affirm that their constituents' worldviews are polarized and ergo, we deal with the two. Bhaskar (2012) contended that the scaling interest of China to control resources in foreign countries becomes necessary to meet China's internal supply-and-demand. Or, simply put, their needs. This is true noting China's over reliance on oil and ore imports (Bhaskar, 2012). On the other hand, it’s also likely that they wanted to control resource and maintain profit free from the regulations of other sovereign states.

Other political analysts argue that the controversy in Scarborough shoal is merely used as a political tactic to cover internal rifts and problems within the mainland. Whether this is true or not, it’s still unwise to preach lies to their constituents to justify and confuse them on issues pertaining territorial claims. On the other hand, Philippines opts for peaceful and diplomatic resolve on internal and external rifts although we maintain vigilance on the security aspect because our envoys are dealing with Chinese military officials who hold much authority on their strategic foreign policy (Bhaskar, 2012).

While we hope for friendly ties, we bend our knees to pray and light candles to keep the peace. We note that our relations with our Chinese communities within the Philippines remain warm and in good grace.

References:

Bhaskar, R. (2012). China's Foreign Policy Debate-Analysis. Eurasia Review (News and Analysis). http://www.eurasiareview.com/18052012-chinas-foreign-policy-debate-analysis/ Accessed: May 19, 2012.

Dela Cruz, A. (2008). Chinese Investments in the Philippines. China Business, Mla., Philippines.

Del Rosario, A. (2012). Remarks of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario on Philippine Foreign Affairs at the Joint Membership Meeting of the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines, Makati, Philippines.