Duterte Challenge To China: Back Off Philippines, War Not An Option
Philippine presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte issued a challenge to China on Saturday, January 16, 2016, to start respecting whatever belongs to the Philippines because “we cannot go into war, we cannot afford it.” Duterte told reporters at a Jaycees convention at Phela Grande Hotel in General Santos City, South Cotabato, that he was seeking rapport with China on the matter.
His stated intention once he gets elected president in May 2016 is to hold “one-on-one talks with China” to press home the Philippine viewpoint. His challenge to China is to resolve the matter peaceably.
Davao City Mayor Duterte expressed his pragmatic approach in no uncertain terms. Rappler quoted the crime-busting mayor’s challenge to China.
“You have to listen to my declaration – whether you believe it or not, that’s something else – but if we talk, I’d say that the predicate of these talks is that what you are occupying now belongs to the Republic of the Philippines. I will not move an inch backwards. The talks should be that, ‘What you are building there, the structures there, maybe you’ll just give it to us or remove it, and I’d be happy.'”
According to CNN, what was doubly significant for Duterte on Saturday was his having to pair up with two rival vice presidential candidates in two separate events. Duterte first attended a town hall meeting at the Oval Plaza Gym in General Santos with his official running-mate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano of the Ducay (Duterte-Cayetano) team. Duterte then joined Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for the unofficial “Alyansang Duterte-Bongbong” or AlDuB partnership at the Jaycees gathering where the feisty mayor voiced his challenge to China.
The election contenders landed separately in General Santos City for their Saturday commitments. Duterte and Marcos arrived in separate helicopters while Cayetano was transported by chartered plane. A challenge presented itself when Cayetano was also invited to the Jaycees gathering, but he stayed away to avoid putting Duterte in an awkward situation.
Just as Duterte took an anti-war stance in addressing concerns about China, Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio of the Philippine Supreme Court pointed out that treaty partner the United States is ready to act on behalf of the Philippines. Citing the Mutual Defense Treaty of August 30, 1951, between the U.S. and the Philippines as an assurance to Filipinos that they were not entirely vulnerable, he made this public statement recently.
“Having refused to participate in the legal arbitration despite being obligated to do so under UNCLOS, China is now using brute force to assert its claim to almost the entire South China Sea. Given this situation, the proper equation in defending the Philippines’ maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea is ‘legal right plus credible self-defense equals might.'”
Carpio has the backing of the 10-member ASEAN (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). The 2015 ASEAN conference, hosted by Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur between August 1 and 6, allowed member countries to voice, like Duterte, a challenge to China’s reclamation projects across the South China Sea.
In the same vein, U.S. Senator John McCain, who chairs his country’s Armed Services Committee, echoed Duterte’s concerns by charging on Monday that China was continuing to “pursue its territorial ambitions” in the region. Presenting a new challenge to the U.S. and its allies, China even landed a plane on a man-made island in the Spratly chain on January 2. According to Reuters, McCain’s complaint followed Chinese official confirmation on Saturday of the test flight utilizing the Beijing-ordered runway.
Duterte’s message is unmistakeable in its challenge to China.
“China, just stop your construction. Be courteous about this, and we will just talk.”
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