Duterte: US to blame for China sea actions

It was the inaction of the United States that emboldened China to aggressively assert its claim in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea, including building artificial islands, many of which have evolved into military facilities with advanced communications and weapons systems, President Duterte told a gathering of lawyers Thursday night.

In remarks before members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in Pasay City, Duterte said only the US has the capability to stop China’s actions in disputed waters, but the superpower appeared to have let the Chinese have their way, to the consternation of neighboring

countries.

The President stressed that the Philippines – under his leadership – would never engage in a violent confrontation with any country, much less with China, just to promote its maritime interests.

“Why in hell ang America, siya lang talaga ang pwede kumasa doon, bakit sabihin niya ngayon magpunta ang Navy ko (Only America can assert itself there, so why would it tell me to send my Navy)? It will be a massacre for my soldiers, I will not do it,” the President said.

Duterte claimed that the Philippines had been warned that “something was afoot” at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal as “some sort of structure” was being set up in the area as early as five years ago.

“Bakit hindi mo pinuntahan doon? Bakit hindi mo sinita? Bakit hindi ka nagpadala ng limang aircraft carrier at kinasahan mo (Why did you not go there? Why did you not confront them? Why did you not send five aircraft carriers?) and you had to wait for the problem to ripen into international issue involving this time so many countries,” the Philippine leader said.

“You could have (nipped) the problem in the bud had you taken a decisive action,” he added.

Duterte said a simple miscalculation in the South China Sea could lead to a war.

“I’m 72 years old. I have so many faults in life. I have a lot of problems, some intentional, some unintentional... I have learned about miscalculation. Be careful of that word,” the President said.

He said the US presence in the region was apparently “on the pretext” of challenging China. He said such move nonetheless is very dangerous.

“It is one single solitary shot. It could lead to an explosion and it could lead to war; and it will be a slaughter,” the Chief Executive warned.

Duterte again stressed that the Philippines is no match for China’s military might.

“We do not have cruise missiles. We are no match and we have to be brutally frank to admit it. Let us not fool ourselves,” he said.

“If that happens, they (China) will attack the island of Palawan. The logistics of America are there… So we go back to the days where it could have been solved or settled, but why did America do nothing about it?”

Panatag Shoal is only 124 nautical miles from Zambales and is well within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

In a ruling on Manila’s maritime case against Beijing, the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration declared the shoal a common fishing ground but invalidated China’s sweeping claim in the South China Sea.

China started occupying the shoal in 2012 when it barred the Philippine Navy from apprehending Chinese poachers who had harvested endangered corals, giant clams and baby sharks.

Reports have quoted a Chinese official as saying that China would start this year preparations for the construction of an environmental monitoring station on Panatag Shoal.

Xiao Jie, the mayor of what China calls Sansha City, said the monitoring station is included in the Chinese government’s projects lined up for this year.

Sansha is the name given by China to the municipal government that administers several island groups, including disputed areas like the Spratly Islands and Panatag Shoal.

China later denied plans to build structures on the shoal.

Duterte stressed that he would not entertain any military alliance with China, noting that the Philippines has an existing defense treaty with the US.

“There’s the RP-US Defense pact. It’s passé now but it’s there. So I will not enter into a military alliance with anybody but certainly, I can choose the friends who are kind to us, those who understand us, and those who do not make imposition,” he told members of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry yesterday in Pasay City.

Duterte also thanked China for its readiness to support the Philippines’ projects and for allowing the entry of Philippine fruits into its vast market.

Grain of salt

China’s assurance that it is not building any structure on Panatag Shoal is a welcome development but should be taken with a grain of salt, defense and military officials who declined to be named warned yesterday.

They urged President Duterte not to take China’s assurance hook, line and sinker as Beijing has a record of breaking promises, as it did in the 1990s during the Ramos administration when it made the Philippines believe that it was only building a shelter for fishermen at Panganiban Reef. The “shelter” eventually evolved into a naval facility.

The fisherman’s group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas or Pamalakaya also expressed doubts on China’s assurance.