Chinese insults show Philippines is right: Aquino

[Krueger]

February 7,2014

AFP

Manila — Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Friday brushed off a barrage of Chinese insults that were triggered by him comparing China's rulers with the Nazis, as the two sides traded further angry accusations over a territorial dispute.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency released a blistering commentary on Wednesday in which it labelled Aquino "amateurish", "ignorant" and "lame".

The commentary came a day after Aquino said China's efforts to seize disputed parts of the South China Sea were similar to Nazi Germany's actions before World War II, and called on global leaders not to make the same mistake of appeasement.

"Well, I thank Xinhua because they are re-affirming the validity of our position. As the saying goes, if someone cannot answer an issue, then he resorts to name-calling," Aquino said when asked for a response to the Xinhua commentary.

"If you are intentionally insulting me, I thank you because it shows the Philippine position is correct."

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei maintained the pressure on Friday, insisting that comparing China's actions to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler were "inconceivable and unreasonable".

"China is strongly dissatisfied with the relevant remark. We hope that the Philippine side will correct its mistake," he told a press briefing.

China insists it has sovereign rights over almost all of South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of neighbouring countries and down as far south as Borneo.

The Philippines, as well as Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan, also claim parts of the sea, and the disputes have for decades made the waters a potential trigger for military conflict in the region.

Tensions have escalated in recent years as an increasingly muscular China has built up its naval and coast guard presence in the South China Sea, drawing complaints from the Philippines of Chinese bullying.

Hong said the Philippines had created the most problems with its "illegal occupation" of islands in the South China Sea.

But Aquino said the disputes could be resolved if all countries abided by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both China and the Philippines are signatories.

The Philippines launched legal action with a United Nations tribunal last year, asking it to rule if the Chinese South China Sea claim was invalid. China refused to participate in the UN process.

 

[Zero_wing]

Palace urges China: Don’t focus on Aquino, join talks instead
by Madel Sabater - Namit
February 9, 2014 (updated)
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Manila, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday urged the Chinese government not to focus on the recent statement by President Benigno S. Aquino III and participate instead on the arbitration proceedings before the international tribunal.


The Palace has called on China to focus on joining talks to address the territorial disputes and not to focus on President Aquino who recently likened China’s territorial assertion to Adolf Hitler’s occupation of territories in the past.

President Benigno S. Aquino III drew flak from the Chinese media after he made his “Hitler” remarks where he compared China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea with Nazi Germany’s occupation of Czechoslovakia in the 1930s.

In an interview with the New York Times last week, Aquino urged world leaders not to make the same appeasement and instead resist China’s wrong claims in the Philippine territory.

Chinese Foreign Minisry Hong Lei said Aquino’s remarks are “inconceivable and unreasonable,” saying that the Chinese are “shocked at and dissatisfied with the remarks from the Philippine side.”

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, however, said the territorial dispute is now with the international tribunal.

“What the Foreign Ministry Spokesman failed to address is that we have already brought this matter to arbitration, an arbitration proceedings which China and the Philippines signed up as well,” Lacierda said.

The Palace official said China cannot have its way of having dialogue with the country as its nine-dash line involves several other countries.

“How can you have a dialogue when the issue is multinational? So in that case, resolving a situation with one county will not necessarily resolve the conflict in other countries because this covers a number of countries,” Lacierda said.

“All we’re saying is that we have a rules-based approach, we have endeavored to achieve peace through arbitration. We ask the world to support us in this endeavor and we ask China to join us in this arbitration proceeding. I think that’s not fairly shocking,” he said.

Lacierda also stressed that the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines does not make the overall bilateral relations between the two countries.

“I think we are responsible enough; both countries are responsible enough to ensure that there are many levels of exchange between the two countries. Patuloy po ang ating relations with China on different levels—tourism, etcetera, and cultural,” he said.

The Palace official, meanwhile, welcomed the proposal of some Filipino-Chinese businessmen to conduct a dialogue with the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to resolve their respective issues with the country.

The Hong Kong government has imposed sanctions on the Philippines by removing its visa-free privilege for diplomatic and official passport holders as the Philippine government stood its ground not to express its apology for the Manila bus hostage incident in August 2010.

“If it will better the understanding between Hong Kong and the Philippines and it will improve relations consistent with our national interest, consistent with the position taken by Philippine government, why not?”Lacierda said.