Disputed waters

When a group of scholars and geopolitical experts on Philippine-China relations put together a selection of articles for a book, the result is a collective body of work worth reading for anyone who has any interest in understanding the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two countries. The book is entitled “Sailing Beyond Disputed Waters: Philippine-China Relations” published in 2013 and edited by two of the foremost China experts in the Philippines, Chito Sta. Romana and Teresita Ang-See.

As stated in its preface, this is an especially relevant reading today, “...when relations (Philippines-China) are arguably at its worst.” The nine articles are divided into three parts: Disputes, Domestic Policies and Cooperative Efforts.

One of the more interesting and revealing article is “Filipino Media and Public Opinion on the Philippines-China Dispute in the South China Sea: A Preliminary Analysis” by Gallardo and Baviera. There is a section entitled “Special Stakeholders and their Opinions.” It talks of two Filipino groups whose stand may be influenced by their ethnic association with either China or the United States.

One group are the Chinese Filipinos or Chinoys who are Filipinos of ethnic Chinese descent and are still culturally identifiable as Chinese. This means they still speak Mandarin or a Chinese dialect and still have strong family or business ties to Mainland China. This is to distinguish them from the millions of Filipinos with ethnic Chinese ancestry but no longer speak the language and do not maintain any family or business ties to Mainland China.

The second group are Filipino Americans who are defined as American nationals but have ethnic Filipino ancestry. This group maintain strong family ties with those residing in the Philippines. There are also Filipinos who have many relatives in the United States and have strong business and cultural ties with the United States.

According to the two authors, “Members of the community (Filipino-Chinese) were divided on this issue (South China Sea Disputes), in part along generational lines which also reflected the amount of exposure to and internationalization of Chinese education and culture, with the older generation being more pro-China and the younger ones pro-Philippines.”

It has been noted by many observers that most Chinoys avoid discussion on these issues. Any attempt to sympathize with China might be taken as criticizing the Philippines. However the two authors pointed out: “Another interesting insight was that because they could not criticize the Philippines nor sympathize with China, there was a tendency for Chinese-Filipinos across generations to take the stand that was at fault for causing tensions between the two.”

On the other hand, overseas Filipinos, especially those residing in the United States, seem to have taken interest in this issue and are more vocal with their views. The overwhelming majority have understandably taken a more pro-USA line. Some of the most hawkish opinions, and clearly anti-China, are Filipino bloggers residing in the American heartland.

The other interesting article is “Philippines and China: Conflict and Cooperation” written by Chito Sta.Romana. He stressed the importance of understanding China by quoting Sun Tzu: “Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat.”

The collapse of Communism caused the collapse of the communist parties in Russia and Eastern Europe. But the Chinese Communists survived and maintained its authoritarian rule. According to Chito, this survival is due to three pillars of support:

The first is economic prosperity. “The transformation of China into the world’s second biggest economy and the remarkable improvement in people’s living standards over the past three decades have provided the basis for the regime’s public support.”

The second is nationalism. “It has become the unifying ideology in lieu of the decline in appeal of Marxist-Leninist and Maoist ideology. This nationalism is rooted in this historical narrative: China suffered a century of humiliation at the hands of foreign invaders before the victory of the revolution in 1949; China used to be the preeminent power in the region and the world before the 19th century and sought to recover its lost glory as a regional and global power.”

The third is the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. “If everything else fails – that is, if the economy slows down, if nationalism loses its appeal and if the survival of the regime is threatened – then the Communist Party leadership can rely on the PLA to maintain its rule in the country.”

The writers are an excellent mix of academicians and China experts. Dr. Aileen San Pablo-Baviera is a professor of Asian Studies at UP, Dr. Rommel Banlaor is vice president at the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies and lecturer at Miriam College, Jay Batongbacal is assistant professor at the UP College of Law, and Sascha Gallardo is a researcher at the UP Asian Center.

Aurora Roxas-Lim is a lecturer at the Chinese Studies program at the Ateneo. Chito Sta. Romana is a graduate of De La Salle University-Manila and the Fletcher School of Diplomacy in Boston. He is the former bureau chief of the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News. He covered China as a broadcast journalist and TV executive producer from 1989 to 2010.

The Philippine-China relations has become part of a wider conflict between China on one hand and the United States, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea on the other. This is competition for marine resources and strategic geopolitical positioning. There is no foreseeable end to this tug-of-war in the near future.

After being named General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, now President of China, said, “We must make persistent efforts, press ahead with indomitable will ...and strive to achieve the Chinese Dream of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

The countries sharing the China Seas with China can only hope that this China Dream does not come into conflict with the dreams of its neighboring countries.

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