MANILA, Philippines – Senator Bongbong Marcos believes the
Philippine government shouldn’t have rejected China’s offer of a one-on-one
dialogue to resolve the raging maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea.
Marcos said the ‘snobbish’ attitude with which the
Philippines dismissed the offer would ultimately backfire as it will further
incense China to take a hardline stance in the territorial row. The senator
added China has opened the door for a peaceful resolution but the Philippines
shut it down.
“The Chinese said let’s talk and we snubbed them. It’s like
the Philippine government itself is encouraging China to take and maintain an
unbending stance on the issue,” Marcos said.
The lawmaker was referring to an earlier remark from Chinese
Ambassador Zhao Jianhua who said the best way to end the territorial conflict
between the two countries is to ‘sit down and talk’.
“Our door for bilateral consultation and negotiation is still
open and will be open forever,” Zhao was quoted as saying.
However, Malacanang Palace rejected Zhao’s offer believing
the best option is a multilateral approach involving other nation-claimants;
and for all parties to follow the 2002 Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the
South China Sea and adopt legally-binding rules.
But Marcos said there is no harm in accepting China’s
invitation to talk as it would not mean we will accede to whatever they would
demand.
“So talk, and tell them: we are not happy with what you are
doing and we do not agree with what you are doing. But the next thing you say
is: how do we fix this?” said Senator Marcos who is the vice chairman of the
Foreign Relations committee.
Marcos reiterated that negotiation at the table remains the
best chance to face China in such issue where war is definitely not an option,
and arbitration refused to be recognized by the communist country.
He also raised the possibility of using backchannels, like
Filipino businessmen talking to their Chinese counterparts, to help in easing
the tension. With the Philippines snubbing China, in this case, would only
serve to antagonize the latter and, perhaps, worsen the already deteriorating
diplomatic row, he added.
“We should not be snobbish. I can’t see any reason at all
why we are not talking to China. On the contrary, there are more than enough
obvious reasons why we should talk to superpower China,” he said.
In the end, according to Marcos, the government should be
thinking about the national interest and what is good for the country.
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