CHICAGO (jGLi) – China’s dominant faiths are Buddhism and Taoism but it seems, its leaders also draw lessons from Biblical teachings.
China, in its effort to assert its dominance over the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) region, would only settle its territorial disputes in Philippine Western Sea (formerly South China Sea) directly with one ASEAN neighbor at a time, not before a collection of countries.
This is akin to Filipino expression: isa-isa lang, mahina ang kalaban (take one enemy at a time, the challenger is weak.)
This manner of conducting its foreign affairs appears to have taken off from “divide-and-rule” strategy, which is one way of maintaining political, military and economic dominance by breaking up larger concentrations of power.
Why face the whole army when you have a better chance at subduing a lonesome soldier?
I reviewed the English translation of Sun Tzu’s Art of War but I cannot find this nugget.
But when you go over some of the Christian writings, you will note that Christian religion is replete with stories of Roman soldiers like Constantine, The Great, using the Holy Cross and invoking the Greek phrase, in hoc signo vinces (in this sign you will conquer) or Julius Caesar’s comment,“Veni, Vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered.)
And unbeknownst to China, its leaders, in pursuing its an aggressive foreign policy, have set aside Sun Tzu’s Art of War, and are now playing into the ways of the Christian religion it persecutes, if not marginalizes. The manner of padding territories has been observed for centuries by Roman ruler Caesar, the French emperor Napoleon and many other warlords throughout the world and is deeply rooted in the Bible.
“CHALLENGE ME, I WILL BREAK YOU UP” — GOD
Knowing that God had promised Noah after the Great Flood that never again would God punish the sinners and the wicked by streaking a rainbow in the sky, Noah’s great grandson, Nimrod started challenging God’s authority by building a tower that would reach the Heavens.
When God learned about this, God“confounded their (the people’s) speech,” and “confused their languages, and they left off building the city (and the tower), which was called Babel (Genesis 11:508).
By dividing the people which was done by letting them speak different languages so they would not understand each other, God was able to rule over His people.
Although many countries under the ten-nation ASEAN, like Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos, are under the sphere of influence of China just as the Philippines is under the United States, China would still not take chances of fully implementing the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the Philippine Western Sea (South China Sea) before ASEAN, for fear that China could lose.
That’s why when the chair of ASEAN, Cambodia, did not adopt a communiqué last week, it was a clearest sign yet that China had pulled out all the stops just to keep the DOC from being considered by the ASEAN.
As a result, I would now strongly suggest that the Philippines take the matter to the next level by taking its territorial dispute with China before either the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Germany or the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, The Netherlands.
At ITLOS or ICJ, the Philippines has a better chance of obtaining justice than the home-cooked ASEAN grouping.
CHINA AFRAID NOT DEALT A STRONG SUIT IN ITLOS & ICJ
China will realize that there is likelihood that at ITLOS or ICJ, it could lose its edge.
It will also expose to the whole world that China does not know how to nurture and keep its friendly relations with its former ward, like Vietnam, which was within its sphere of influence. Vietnam, which drew principal support from China, in defeating U.S. during Vietnam War, is now distancing itself from China and is warming up its relations with the United States.
Chinese Navy brutally attacked Vietnamese in 1988 when Vietnam tried to assert jurisdiction over one of the Paracel Islands abutting Vietnam, leaving 64 Vietnamese killed and 61 more missing and believed dead and some Vietnamese vessels destroyed.
But last April 2, 2012, the police of Palau, a tiny island east of the Philippines, shot dead a Chinese fisherman while Palau’s police spotter plane with three men (a United States-licensed pilot and two police officers) went missing and were feared dead in a dramatic confrontation off the Palau’s Pacific territorial waters declared as the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009. The sanctuary bans shark fishing in its exclusive economic zone, which covers almost 630,000 square kilometers of the northern Pacific.
The Chinese fisherman died in a hail of bullets designed to stop a Chinese vessel fishing illegally in Palau waters while five men were taken from burning ship and have been charged with unlawful entry and illegal fishing in Palau waters.
Palau President Johnson Toribiong confirmed a spotter plane was dispatched to document the PRC (China) mothership after being burned by its crew to destroy the ship and its cargo when the plane radioed that its navigational systems had failed and had run out of fuel.
The muted protest of China after Palau’s killing of the Chinese fisherman and arrest of five Chinese poachers is so deafening that a small island of 20,000 could shame a giant and oppressive neighbor.
I suggest President Aquino invite Palau President Toribiong to a state visit to the Philippines so he can pick up the brains of Toribiong on how to shame China, which is claiming a Philippine territory in Philippine Western Sea.
If China would not give up its claim over Philippine Western Sea territories, the Philippine government should warm up to the suggestion of Filipino American businesswoman and lawyer Loida Nicolas Lewis and some Vietnam NGO’s to appeal to the Filipinos and Vietnamese everywhere to boycott China products.
In addition to the China boycott, if Filipinos are buying any product, they should be brand conscious by buying products only that are not made in China.
And if China keeps its aggression in Philippine waters, the Philippines should join Vietnam in charging China with engaging in War on Terrorism, by accusing China of intruding into Philippine waters and should join Vietnam in complaining against China for the massacre of Vietnamese in 1988 in Paracel Island as shown in this footage. The two countries can even seek sanctions against China before the United Nations. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
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