From dragon poker to whisperer

First of 2 parts

A NEW leaf has been turned in our relationship with China. From a dragon poker, our country has now become a dragon whisperer. Thanks to the visionary leadership of the current chief architect of our foreign policy, President Rodrigo Duterte, we’re now veering away from the dangerous path the Aquino administration took us – to a better, saner, and more peaceful geopolitical path.

Duterte’s foreign policy shift is grounded on reframing China from an enemy we must destroy into an adversary we must win over.

Former President Benigno Aquino 3rd compared China’s stance in the South China Sea to Nazi Germany’s annexation of Sudetenland. He didn’t do it just

- ing an interview with TheNew York Times while delivering a speech before businessmen in Nazi Germany’s former ally in Asia – Japan.

This framing of China invites a very belligerent policy. How else should the world respond to another Nazi Germany other than the use of force?

China is a battle between good and

evil. In LivingonBorrowedTimes: ConversationswithCitlaliRovirosasociologist Zygmunt Bauman called this framing the “religionization of politics.” Religionization of politics, Bau- interests calling for negotiation and compromise...into an ultimate showdown between good and evil that renders any negotiated agreement inconceivable and from which only one of the antagonists can emerge alive.”

Mention “negotiated agreement” with China to anyone supporting Aquino’s foreign policy line and you’ll be accused of being anti-Philippines.

Duterte framed China differently. He didn’t see China as an evil we must destroy but a neighbor we must co-exist peacefully with, a market we must tap, and a possible partner in the further development of our country.

the entirety of our bilateral relationship with China. For Duterte, that

joint statement of the Philippines and China after Duterte’s (relaxation of strained relations)

that contentious issues are not the sum total of the Philippines-China bilateral relationship.”

Vice President Leni Robredo is singing the same belligerent tune of her partymate.

In a speech she delivered on

the South China Sea disputes at the University of the Philippines, Robredo stated that China is the most serious external threat to the

China successfully solidifies its presence within its nine-dash line, the Philippines will lose effective control over its exclusive economic zone, which is larger than the land area of our country. This is why China’s encroachment on Philippine territories is the most serious external threat to our country since the Second World War.” It’s both an ignorant and dangerous statement.

( “Ignorance, confusion, deception”), I already clarified that there’s no such thing in international law as “effective control” of the exclusive economic zone as this area of the sea cannot be appropriated as territory. That’s what makes Robredo ignorant.

What makes her dangerous is

enemy, not just a rival, but an enemy equivalent to what Japan was

easily infer that the framework of Robredo’s foreign policy strategy is not so different from Aquino’s, which is not just the containment but the rollback of China from the South China Sea.

This is way different from the foreign policy strategy of rapprochement and engagement with China that the Duterte administration has been pursuing.

Duterte’s track is one of conciliation built on identifying China as a friend with whom we have a disagreement. With this framing, issues that arise along the way are considered as wrinkles that could be ironed out with persistent pursuit of diplomacy. Compromise is the eventual goal.

Meanwhile, Robredo’s track is one of confrontation, with China seen as a threat. As such, issues that arise along the way aren’t wrinkles that could be ironed out but further evidence that China is an ever-growing threat. Hence, we must act to stop that threat. No compromise.

Her historical invocation of

- spite her invocation of “peaceful protest,” we all knew what policy was used to defeat the most serious threat our country had during WW

order to roll back its presence from the South China Sea region.

Fortunately, Duterte is our president and not Robredo’s running mate, Mar Roxas, who vowed to continue Aquino’s foreign policy line. Instead of poking the dragon, Duterte coaxes it. And in a span of just two years, he seems to be suc-

soft spot of every dragon. The improvement in the situation in the Scarborough Shoal is the evidence.