Gazmin: China to lose face with incursions

China will lose face before the international community if it continues its incursions into Philippine territory and in the disputed Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said on Tuesday.

Gazmin said the international community will hold China to Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie’s declaration at the Asia Security Summit in Singapore over the weekend that Beijing was after peace and stability in the region.

He said Liang was very specific in saying that aggression towards other countries was not an option for the Chinese and that they were for a peaceful resolution of the dispute over the Spratlys group.

“Remember, that statement (by Liang) was made last Sunday. The incursions (occurred) before, so we now have a baseline. So anything that happens from now on is a clear violation of what he said,” Gazmin told a news briefing at the defense department on Tuesday.

“If they do that, they will lose face in the international community. They wouldn’t want to do that,” he said.

The Spratlys, a chain of islets and atolls in the South China Sea believed to sit above rich oil deposits, is claimed wholly or in part by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines, signed a nonbinding accord in 2002 that called on claimants to exercise restraint and stop occupying new areas.

At the annual regional security forum in Singapore, called the “Shangri-La Dialogue” over the weekend, Gazmin and Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh complained about harassment from the Chinese military in the Spratlys.

No opportunity

Gazmin said there had been an “alarming” five to six incursions by China this year in territories claimed by the Philippines. The latest incident occurred while Liang was in the country for an official visit from May 21 to 25.

Gazmin said he did not have the opportunity to bring up the latest incursion with Liang during the summit.

“It was hello and goodbye. He was very popular. A lot of people were trying to get a glimpse of him and talk with him,” he explained.

Gazmin said he had bilateral talks with his counterparts from Vietnam and Malaysia.

“We are one in resolving the disputes in a very peaceful manner. We have mechanisms that are in place in the resolution of these cases,” he said.

“All the ministers that I have talked to (said) that there should be peaceful resolution to make this area stable,” he added.

The forum was also attended by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates who expressed increasing US concern that clashes could erupt in the South China Sea unless the countries with conflicting territorial claims adopt a mechanism to settle the dispute peacefully.