MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III is asking for more support from other countries in resisting China's territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea, according to a report by The New York Times.
In the report published on February 4, the President likened the Philippines' present situation to that of Czechoslovakia prior to World War II, when Adolf Hitler demanded control of the said nation's territory.
Similar to Czechoslovakia, Aquino told The New York Times that the Philippines now "needs more robust foreign support for the rule of international law if it is to resist" China's demands.
"If we say yes to something we believe is wrong now, what guarantee is there that the wrong will not be further exacerbated down the line?" the President said in the article.
"At what point do you say, 'Enough is enough'? Well, the world has to say it — remember that the Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease Hitler to prevent World War II."
Sudetenland refers to areas of Czechoslovakia that were mostly inhabited by German speakers.
Aquino said even if the Sudetenland surrendered, Germany still occupied most of the rest of Czechoslovakia months later.
Since appeasement did not work then, the Philippines will not resort to such action in its own territorial row with China, Aquino noted in the New York Times report.
"You may have the might," Aquino said in the report, "but that does not necessarily make you right."
The Philippines is embroiled in a territorial dispute with China, which is pressing its sovereignty practically over the entire South China Sea through its nine-dash line claim.
The Asian giant has drawn this dotted line that covers the coast of Malaysia, Borneo and the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal located west of the Philippines.
China has argued that according to centuries-old maps, it has an early claim to the disputed sea, where its massive fleet is trying to exert dominance over the contested islands and reefs.
As it continues to call for ease of the ever-growing tensions, the Philippines has filed a case before the United Nation's Arbitral Tribunal concerning the legality of China's sea claims.
Manila has also called on China to observe procedures of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in settling the disputes.
In an attempt to boost its defenses, the Philippines also continues to work on a framework agreement that will enable an increased rotational presence of American troops in the country. -Louis Bacani