It is time
President Duterte will officially visit China this month. This will be his fifth trip to Beijing in the three years into his term. According to his spokesman, Duterte will be raising the decision of the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) where the country was handed a favorable decision, practically debunking China’s nine-dash-line claim. The planned joint oil exploration in the West Philippine Sea will also be tabled for discussion. The Palace is saying that now is the time to bring up the decision.
The country recently filed another protest against China over the swarm of supposed fishing boats near Pagasa Island. The island is one of several that the Philippines controls. It is inhabited by Filipinos who patriotically hold the island. The island itself is undergoing several rehabilitation works and the upgrading of facilities, particularly the runway. Most of the boats have left the area. Those left behind are probably monitoring the ongoing work at the island. Duterte would do well to bring up the unrelenting harvesting of giant clams by Chinese fishermen as well as the Recto Bank incident. To date, there has been no news of the crew being sanctioned or fined for hitting Gem-Ver 1 and purposely leaving the crew behind.
We have yet to see how China's President Xi Jinping will react when Duterte brings up the arbitral decision. We know that China did not participate in the discussion and does not recognize the PCA's decisions. We also know, based on Duterte's story, that Xi Jinping threatened war if the country would go it alone in drilling for oil in the West Philippine Sea. I sincerely doubt China would declare war on the country knowing the US is a strong ally and we want our fishermen to be able to freely and safely fish in the area. I’m just glad the Americans did not mind all the scathing and invective-filled speeches of Duterte against the US. The Palace may be right in saying now is the time to bring all these up.
We need to find out if China is truly a friend of the country or just another fair-weather friend. After three years of setting aside the UN ruling, Beijing may now find itself on the defensive, a position they are not accustomed to. We will also see if bringing up the decision would have any effect on the large financial aid and big infrastructure projects to be funded by China. This happens to be the time when the country is set to receive a corvette from South Korea, the BRP Conrado Yap, a move Beijing would certainly frown upon.
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