Locsin: China would not have attacked in 2012 Scarborough face-off
MANILA, Philippines — For Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., the 2012 standoff at Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal might have ended with Manila and Beijing “talking to each other” if only the Philippines had stood its ground in the disputed area back in 2012.
The country’s top diplomat implied at a pre-recorded “Talk to the People” of President Rodrigo Duterte aired Monday night that the Aquino administration made an error in judgment when the Philippine Navy was recalled from its position in Panatag, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, because he believes that China would not have launched an attack during that time.
The 2012 incident saw a months-long tense impasse between Philippine forces and Chinese counterparts after reports reached Manila that foreign fishing boats were anchored at the shoal, which is well within the country’s exclusive economic zone. The incident also spurred the Aquino administration’s filing of a case against China’s nine-dash line claim that covers almost the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, before the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.
The Philippines clinched a historic win on that case with PCA invalidating China’s nine-dash line claim in a ruling handed down in July 2016.
READ: What Went Before: Panatag Shoal standoff
“When we withdrew, the United States has no obligation, Mr. President, to go to war,” Locsin said during the President’s pre-recorded briefing. “The thing about the Mutual Defense Treaty is you have to be attacked; nobody was attacked, we withdrew.”
“If the Chinese wanted to attack, there was nobody to attack, the other side left. And I don’t know if they would have attacked, that’s one thing. I have talked to the Chinese, to Foreign Minister Wang Yi, they have no intention to do that, if you had kept up that face-off, it might have ended up in just the two sides talking to each other,” he added.
During the earlier part of his speech, Locsin also raised questions over the previous administration’s action of being the first to pull out from Panatag Shoal during the standoff if it really believed the country owns the area.
He echoed Duterte’s viewpoint that the Philippines’ lost Scarborough Shoal because of the Aquino administration’s decision to pull back from that stalemate.
“Why we withdrew when we had Unclos in place, that said under this law, we have the right to be here, you don’t. And that’s the meaning of losing possession, when you walk away from that, and there is no obligation. Even at that time I would say, President Aquino, why don’t you go into the water?”
But Duterte has claimed time and again that he tried to raise the country’s rights over the West Philippine Sea with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the latter supposedly warned of a possible “problem” should Manila continue to push it.
In one instance just this April, the President said that the only way to purportedly regain control of the West Philippine Sea is through force, but simultaneously stressing that he is not willing to risk losing soldiers and resources in a war. Duterte even went on to praise Beijing for all the things that China has supposedly done for the Philippines.
READ: Duterte insists force needed to regain control over West Philippine Sea
READ: PH won’t go to war with ‘good friend’ China, says Duterte
Lingering discussion over the West Philippine Sea issue took the spotlight anew after the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) reported that over 200 boats — including Chinese maritime militia ships — were parked near the Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef last March.
The reef is well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
READ: Over 200 Chinese vessels moored at West Philippine Sea reef
READ: Chinese militia vessels still in West Philippine Sea – task force
Critics have pushed the administration to uphold the PCA ruling but Duterte has usually chosen to put it aside and forge warm relations with China.
READ: Duterte on PH court win over China: ‘That’s just paper; I’ll throw that in the wastebasket’
