Filipino demonstrators in Quezon City marking the eighth anniversary on July 12 of a 2016 international arbitration decision on the South China Sea that ruled in favour of the Philippines against China. - The Straits Times
BEIJING/MANILA: A prominent Chinese scholar on the South China Sea has called for a “permanent solution” to the dispute over the Second Thomas Shoal, raising questions about Beijing’s intentions regarding an ageing warship stationed there as Manila’s outpost.
Philippine officials and academics have rebuffed the suggestion, vowing to take all steps necessary to ensure that the World War II-era BRP Sierra Madre can continue to be reinforced, even as such attempts have been increasingly challenged by China.
In the past year, China and the Philippines have clashed repeatedly over the shoal, which is in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, but also falls within China’s expansive nine-dash line that marks its claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea.
The latest escalation saw a face-off between Chinese coast guard and Philippine naval vessels on June 17. Both sides later agreed to restore trust and rebuild confidence.
On July 11, Dr Wu Shicun told reporters in Beijing that the current “management model” by which China “allows” the Philippines to resupply soldiers stationed at the shoal on humanitarian grounds – but not with building materials – was “not sustainable”.
This is partly because of the environmental pollution caused by the BRP Sierra Madre, he argued.
The ship is said to be in bad shape, and some analysts have suggested that it will not hold up for long without reinforcements.
“The future disintegration of the ship may lead to an environmental disaster,” said Wu, who is chairman of the Huayang Centre for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance think-tank. He is also a regular speaker on South China Sea issues at international conferences.
He referred to a report released by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources on July 8, which said that the warship had “gravely damaged” the coral reef ecosystem there.
The report said the Philippines should promptly remove the vessel as the source of pollution.
Asked to elaborate, Wu said there were only three options for resolving the impasse over the shoal.
Other than the current “unsustainable” model, another way was to accept the status quo, with the Philippines controlling the reef. But the negative impact of doing this was “too great”, he said.
“For China to let go of the Ren’ai Jiao (Second Thomas Shoal) and no longer care about it, it will only embolden the Philippines. So this scenario is absolutely impossible,” he said, speaking at an event to launch a report reiterating Chinese objections to a 2016 arbitration decision on the South China Sea that ruled in favour of the Philippines against China.
This left the last option, which he described as “qing ling”, loosely translated as clearing or resetting the situation back to zero, which Wu said “required further study” and did not elaborate further on.
Lucio Pitlo III, a research fellow at Manila-based think-tank Asia Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, told The Straits Times that China changing the status quo could mean blocking resupplies of construction materials or towing away the warship.
At an event in Manila to mark the eighth anniversary of the arbitral ruling on July 12, officials and academics interviewed were adamant that the vessel should remain in place. The event was organised by the Stratbase ADR Institute think-tank and involved speakers such as foreign diplomats.
Philippine Navy spokesman Roy Trinidad said the BRP Sierra Madre will stay on the shoal and that accusations hurled at the ship are part of China’s “false narratives”. “We will not be deterred in continuing to rotate our troops and to provide them with appropriate supplies,” he said.
Former Philippine Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio also criticised China for pointing fingers, when the 2016 tribunal ruled that Beijing’s massive artificial-island building activities had caused “irreparable harm” in the South China Sea’s marine ecosystems.
“The BRP Sierra Madre is admittedly rusting, but that doesn’t compare at all to what China did in destroying seven atoll reefs to build their artificial islands. Totally incomparable. Their damage is well documented,” said Carpio.
If China is now concerned about the environment, then it should let the Philippines fix the BRP Sierra Madre unhampered, he added.
“If China will allow us to repair the ship, if China will stop harassing our resupply missions so we can repair the BRP Sierra Madre, then there will be no pollution at all,” said Carpio.
Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro also said the issues being raised now against the grounded warship are part of China’s disinformation operations against Manila.
Philippine military and coast guard officials told ST in separate interviews that they had recently noticed an increase in three narratives being propagated on social media through posts they claim can be traced to Beijing: that the Philippines and China are on the brink of war, that Manila’s actions in the South China Sea are dictated by the US, and that China wants a peaceful settlement of the dispute.
Lucio said that in the history of the South China Sea, there are only two ways to capture a feature controlled or administered by another: force or deception.
The first option of clearing or towing the ship from the shoal requires force and may result in conflict between the two neighbours, he said. This may draw the US into the fray, given its alliance commitments with the Philippines, lest Washington’s credibility be eroded.
The second option of allowing the troop rotation and resupply missions to continue, but blocking the flow of construction materials, would be unacceptable to Manila, he added.
He believes Beijing does not have the moral high ground to flash the environmental card against Manila.
“China remade low-lying reefs, altering their natural status on a scale unprecedented in the history of the hot spot,” he said. – The Straits Times/ANN
