‘OK being soft with China if sea dispute resolved’

BUSAN – The Duterte administration would rather endure criticisms of being too soft on China than sacrifice its push for a peaceful resolution of competing claims over the South China Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said yesterday.

“We can continue to fight for our rights without armed conflict or without escalating the arguments. So every now and then there are irritants and there are real issues and we’re taking the diplomatic action, but it doesn’t mean that we confront each other in front of the media each and every time because it doesn’t create the atmosphere of dialogue, but it also doesn’t mean that the government is giving up our rights or is not fighting for it,” Cayetano told The STAR.

Cayetano attended the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) meeting held at Nurimaru APEC House here.

The secretary maintained the administration is not changing its strategy on the South China Sea disputes, which he claimed is already “bearing fruits.”

He said under President Duterte, a tentative fishing agreement has allowed many Filipinos to fish in the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

“So fishermen are a good example, from fishing not being allowed and from intimidation by different navies now there’s a tentative fishing agreement and we’re starting to move to have the coast guard than the navy ships there,” Cayetano said.

“So the bottom line is if your strategy is bearing fruit and you’re going towards your objective you don’t change course, right?” he said.

Security analysts had criticized Southeast Asian foreign ministers for not being strong enough in condemning the continued reclamation activities of China in the disputed waters in the joint communiqué issued after their meeting in Manila early August.

The Asian Maritime Transparency Institute in Washington recently published photos showing continuing land reclamation in the contested waters.

Cayetano admitted the administration’s approach to the issue is “not perfect,” and it does not criticize the strategy made by the Aquino administration.

“You do have to protect your own interest so we do not judge the past administration for the actions it took. We believe that in that point in time that was the right action, so we have to build on their gains,” he said.

“I just want to assure our people that we are protecting our interest,” Cayetano said.

The Philippines, he said, has always fought for its territory but has always made “sacrifices.”

“They did not sacrifice the territory but we’ve always made sacrifices so there’s a peaceful resolution of a conflict or disagreements,” he said.

Apart from the Philippines and China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the potentially oil-rich South China Sea.

In July 2016, an arbitral court based in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, dismissing China’s maritime “nine-dash line” claim as having no legal basis.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea and does not recognise the arbitral court’s ruling.

Cayetano also said the Philippines and other claimant nations, including China, follow the 2002 Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea where concerned parties agreed that uninhabited features in the region will remain as they are.