We do not want war

With the US and Western allies massing their warships in Philippine seas, the time has come for Filipinos to declare clearly and unequivocably that the Philippines does not want war, not especially in the seas surrounding it.

The US and its Western allies can fight their wars on their part of the world. The Philippines was the second most destroyed city in World War II because it was the battlefield between the US and Japan. As far as I am concerned we have the right to stop the war from being conducted in our country.

Many still remember the rape of Manila. This was glorified by American General Douglas MacArthur who claimed that whatever was destroyed in the war will be repaid in war damage claims.

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If we must choose who will lead the bilateral talks with China it should be someone who knows the background of the Spratly dispute and how it developed. It is varied and multilevel. Moreover, it must be someone acceptable to the Chinese. The Chinese have said that FVR was acceptable. The freed former President GMA says he is too high to conduct the bilateral talks. Two other names have been mentioned, former Speaker JDV and Rafael Alunan.

Of the many articles written on the dispute I find K.J. Noh’s article “Making a Mockery of International Law: The Arbitral Tribunal on the South China Sea Prepares the Way for War” as the most useful.

Noh blames the American pivot to Asia for the dispute.

“Planned since the turn of the century, and officially declared by Hillary Clinton in 2011, the pivot is the US master plan to contain, stymie, and suppress China’s growth in the region.

It involves moving 60% of all US military materiel and resources into the Asia Pacific area, encircling China with bases, missile systems, and naval forces; pressuring countries in the region into bilateral and multinational military agreements aligned with the US (or undermining them if they refuse); all the while goading China into an arms race, territorial battles, and ultimately war.

Underlying this is the conceit that the US should remain the unipolar global hegemon.”

According to him “the Chinese understand the repercussions of the pivot and have steadily built their defenses in the event of war. They want to maintain at least nominal control  especially with the threat of militarized Japan.”

Here comes the most relevant part of Noh’s article that I have excerpted and why we should resist any attempt to draw us into war.

“The Philippines is the most important player in this particular gambit: it alone has five new US bases (Antonio Bautista AB, right next to the Spratlys; Basa, Fort Magsaysay, Lumbia AB, Mactan-Benito AB) as well as the recently reopened Subic Bay, the largest naval base in the world, and Clark Airbase, one of the most powerful global platforms for air power projection. With a long history of US collaboration as a colony and semi-vassal state, it has recently re-ingratiated itself with the US (after kicking it out with its bases), becoming a key pawn in the pivot.

And so, a decade and a half’s worth of trust-building, bilateral cooperation agreements, joint statements for peace and development and cooperation between China and the Philippines become flotsam on the shifting diplomatic high seas.”

“You don’t have to be conspiracy theorist to surmise the following dialogue from the US to the Philippines: “We can’t go directly at the Chinese – not just now – but you can. If you escalate the conflict, get their goat, we’ll help you. It’s simple: if they come after you, they are bullies, and if they don’t they’re pussies. Either way they lose face. And when they do come after you, we can take them to court. We specialize in litigation. We can do lawfare like no-one’s business.”

The Chinese don’t agree to one sided arbitration. Arbitration requires the consent of both parties.

“The Chinese have signed an agreement with the Philippines – the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration of Conduct for Parties in the South China Sea – that it will negotiate bilaterally between each party any territorial claims. This binds the Philippines into negotiating directly with the Chinese.”

On the recent arbitration “it was reportedly paid for by the Philippines – the arbitrators, clerks, lawyers, xerox fees, coffee, tea, juice, and bottled water. Since it’s a bought and paid-for private arbitration, not a public international court of law, it costs a pretty penny. Politics by proxy doesn’t come cheap.”

15 “charges” are filed against the Chinese: these are carefully structured to delegitimize Chinese territorial claims, even though the Ad hoc Tribunal has no authority – in fact the entire body of the UNCLOS – has no authority to adjudicate territorial claims whatsoever. Territorial sovereignty can only be determined by International Court of Justice – a legitimate UN Body – or through bilateral negotiations, and according to customary international law, not UNCLOS. The UN released a statement that it had anything to do with the tribunal the following day.”

“Judgments are rarely if ever followed. They omit to mention that the rulings of the UNCLOS have no enforcement mechanism and are uniformly disregarded. A dozen recent adjudications, and not one of them followed. Most recently, the British, who lost in their attempt to keep the Chagos Islanders from returning to Diego Garcia, in one of the most flagrant acts of depopulation and ethnic cleansing. The ruling scoffed at by the British.  No matter. It’s okay when the West does it, they follow the rule of law, even when they don’t. But these are Chinese, and by definition, they must be evil law breakers.“

“The Chinese must learn to follow “the rule of law” otherwise they are international scofflaws,” and must be called to task. There are strident calls for military action to enforce and teach the recalcitrant Chinese a lesson.  They can only learn at the end of a stick or a muzzle. Little matter that the US is not even a signatory to the UNCLOS.”

“The Chinese know a thing or two about war and about peace. 5000 years of history have schooled them to the sorrows of war, and seared in their bones the value of peace. If they move to war, they move reluctantly, hesitantly, regretfully towards it: Every dynasty embroiders and carves its capitals, palaces and streets with calls and summons for peace: the gate of heavenly peace, gate of earthly peace, the long peace. A century and half of exploitation and deceit by colonial powers has taught them a thing or two about “global order” and “rule of law” as well: its brutality, violence, treachery, and now its self-serving sophistry and hypocrisy.”

Who is the Filipino  to lead the talks considering this background?