Ambition and ability

Beijing’s newly appointed ambassador to the Philippines, Ma Keqing, stated that China will not use military force in settling the disputes over the South China Sea, or the West Philippines Sea depending on your nationality. To quote her directly, “We have no ambition or ability to pose a threat to other countries...What we want to do is protect China’s interests, protect its borders and sovereignty.” The statement itself is both amusing and alarming.

For China to say that they do not have the ambition and the ability to pose a threat to other countries is just ridiculous. China has the largest standing army in the world, with around 2.2 million active soldiers and around 800,000 in reserve. And we’re not even talking about the possibility of the citizenry being called into military service, if the need arises. They recently fitted an aircraft carrier for their purposes. You don’t use an aircraft carrier to defend your country, you use it to bring your forces to fight elsewhere. We’re not even talking about their naval and air forces! There have been acts of intimidation and threat in and around the disputed Spratly Islands. So to say they do not have the ability is just preposterous.

And to say that all they want is to protect its borders and sovereignty is like saying they will use force to protect what they feel is rightfully theirs, and that’s the whole ocean! For China, there is nothing to dispute because it is all theirs. There is nothing to talk about because they own it all. And they will protect what is theirs.

It was nice to hear the initial words of the new ambassador. But the second part of her statement was quite alarming. We are still a long way from attaining a lasting agreement from all concerned, especially China, regarding the disputed Spratly Islands. With the price of oil showing no signs of slowing down, discovering a huge depository under the sea is really worthy fighting for. It is also good to hear that China may be open to joint explorations in the area. But at the same time, who gets to supervise whom, if China already stakes a claim on the whole ocean. What should first occur is a settlement or demarcation of areas to be done in an appropriate forum like the United Nations. After the lines of ownership have been drawn, then true joint development can begin.

It’s really hard to listen to the biggest guy on the block saying he has no desire to dominate everyone. There is something wrong somewhere.