Appeasement Emboldens the Aggressor

 

APPEASEMENT EMBOLDENS THE AGGRESSOR

IN AID OF BEIJING

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:08 AM June 18, 2019

Is Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi a psychic? He must think himself so, because after only a cursory inspection of the wrecked Filipino fishing boat that its 22-man crew said was rammed by a Chinese vessel on June 9 off Recto Bank, Cusi was confident enough to brush off the fishermen’s charge that they were deliberately targeted and declare that it was all an accident.

The damage to the stern of FB Gem-Vir 1 didn’t look extensive enough, he maintained. Therefore, the Chinese vessel’s action couldn’t have been intentional, he said.

“Kung talagang babanggain eh bakit yung… Kung sa kwan ba … sasabihin nating ‘Napakabulok naman ‘yung babangga, daplis lang, (If they intended to ram, we could say they were bad at it, as they only grazed the boat)” Cusi was quoted as saying in a GMA 7 report.

“I mean, kung meant to kill and meant to … Siyempre, ididiretso mo na.” (If it was meant to kill, then they should have done it frontally.)

But if it was an accident, why did the Chinese abandon the Filipino fishermen floundering on the waters?

This time Cusi had no answer and said he would defer to any future investigation.

Cusi also chairs the Mimaropa’s Cabinet Officers for Regional Development and Security and thus may be said to have a say on this matter.

…Cusi’s first duty as a Filipino, let alone as one of the highest officials of the land, is to lend support and compassion to the brutalised Filipino fishermen, and, more to the point, to call for justice on their behalf.

It is not his job to lawyer for the Chinese side and belittle the ordeal his countrymen had gone through.

Unless, of course, those are his marching orders?

Cusi’s behaviour is, after all, part of what appears to be the tactic the Duterte administration has adopted to contain the ramifications of this potentially flashpoint incident: once again, appease Beijing by tamping down the outrage of the Filipino public - even if that means meekly accepting, and being made idiots by, that country’s absurd justifications for the incident.

China first claimed it was a “normal maritime accident.”

…The Chinese Embassy then released a statement offering its own detailed version of the incident - and it is such a ridiculous version that the Chinese government must really think Filipinos, and the international community, are stupid enough to swallow its bullshit.

The accident happened, according to the statement, when a fishing boat from Guandong, China, which was “berthed” at the vicinity of Recto Bank, was “suddenly besieged by 7 or 8 Filipino fishing boats.”

As it tried to evacuate, its steel cable supposedly bumped into the Filipino fishing boat, which then “tilted and its stern foundered.”

“The captain (of the Chinese ship) then tried to rescue the Filipino fishermen, but was afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats,” the statement continued.

After seeing that the Filipinos were rescued by other Filipino boats, the Chinese boat sailed away.

This, the statement added, proves that it was not a case of “hit-and-run.”

Junel Insigne, captain of the FB Gem-Vir 1, debunks the Chinese story firstly with the fact that it was a Vietnamese boat that rescued them and not any other Filipino boat nearby; and secondly with the unassailable force of logic: “Lumubog nga kami, kami pa ang aatake?” (We went under, how could we be the attackers?)

…Beijing’s fudging, twisting and lying about this issue has only been aided by the deafening silence of the President, more than a week since the incident.

Worse, when the 22 fishermen were rescued, shameless administration lackeys made the still-traumatised fishermen pose for the camera with the Duterte fist-bump salute, right on the rescue boat.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/122049/in-aid-of-beijing#ixzz6lgxYkhTp

ABSENCE OF JUSTICE FOR FILIPINO FISHERMENT RAMMED BY CHINESE VESSEL: 1 YEAR AND COUNTING

By: Frances Mangosing - Reporter / @FMangosing

INQUIRER.net / 11:25 PM June 08, 2020

MANILA, Philippines—Justice has yet to be served for the 22 Filipino fishermen whose boat was rammed and sent sinking by a Chinese vessel inside Philippine territory a year ago.

…The assault on June 9 last year happened near the resource-rich Recto (Reed) Bank. The Chinese trawler abandoned the 22 fishermen in the open sea after their boat sank. They were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen a few hours later.

…The Duterte administration drew flak after appearing to side with China after the assault.

In a joint report by the Philippine Coast Guard and Maritime Industry Authority in July 2019, the Chinese vessel was found to have intentionally rammed the Filipino fishing boat and abandoned the Filipino fishermen, leaving them for dead in the sea. The report described it as a “very serious” case.

The Chinese vessel maneuvered to return some 50 meters from the boat it struck, a move which was seen as a sign that the Chinese crew was aware of what it did but did not respond to the Filipinos’ call for help.

The Chinese vessel turned off its lights and sailed away, failing to provide assistance to distressed persons at sea — a violation of regulations in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

…The names of the ship owner, ship captain and crew of the Chinese vessel were never disclosed.

Later in September, Shanghai-based tycoon Xue Chengbiao, of Shanghai Jucheng Capital Group, donated a 10-ton boat with the Chinese name, FB Pengyou, to replace the GemVer, the Filipinos’ fishing boat destroyed by the Chinese vessel.

But the donated boat broke in half when hit by strong waves in November 2019, an indication of its flimsy build.

A study of Washington-based think tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said that the Chinese ship Yuemaobinyu 42212 that rammed GemVer was involved in state-backed activities in the past, strongly suggesting “the 42212 is more than just a normal fishing boat.”

It was found, through public information available, that the culprit boat operates from a port linked to China’s maritime militia unit.

Because of this information, the AMTI said it “raises the question of whether the collision with the Gem-Ver was intentional.”

Edited by TSB

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1288313/absence-of-justice-for-filipino-fishermen-rammed-by-chinese-vessel-1-year-and-counting#ixzz6lgsFTVoV

“Appeasement [is] the policy of making concessions to the dictatorial powers in order to avoid conflict.”

https://www.history.co.uk/history-of-ww2/appeasement

—”Appeasement,” Sky History

“Despite his promise of ‘no more territorial demands in Europe’, Hitler was undeterred by appeasement. In March 1939, he violated the Munich Agreement by occupying the rest of Czechoslovakia. Six months later, in September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and Britain was at war.”

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-britain-hoped-to-avoid-war-with-germany-in-the-1930s

—”How Britain Hoped to Avoid War with Germany in the 1930s,” Imperial War Museums

Duterte’s servile, craven policy of appeasement toward Communist China incited the Gem-Ver incident, which could be spotted miles away. After all,

“Appeasement emboldens the aggressor.”

https://poetryofgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2020/06/political-aphorisms.html

Fortunately, the murderous action of the Chinese vessel against the crew of the Gem-Ver may have prompted the Duterte administration one year later to adopt a more contentious tone—however restrained—in dealing with the illegal expansionist claims of Communist China.

REMEMBER GEM-VER

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:06 AM June 30, 2020

In last week’s online summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, President Duterte called on countries with competing claims in the South China Sea to “refrain from escalating tensions and abide by responsibilities under international law, notably the 1982 Unclos or the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” Noting “alarming incidents in the South China Sea,’’ Mr. Duterte urged “all parties to adhere to the rule of law and to their commitments to international instruments, including the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.’’

The statement sets the right tone for Asean, and marks a more pointed-than-usual, if still veiled, reproach of China, which has riled the region and the international community with its island-building, militarization, and acts of provocation in the flashpoint waters.

But it’s one thing to make the right noises and another to do the right thing.

…What has happened to the Filipino fishermen’s case more than a full year since the incident? Nothing. They have yet to receive a single cent of official compensation from China for the loss of their livelihood, despite the government’s earlier commitment to help them and the Chinese boat owner’s promise to pay for damages.

…So reluctant has Malacañang been, in fact, that the Chinese Embassy, according to Locsin, was “pleading with me to take it up finally.’’ How remarkable — Beijing as a solicitous party, when, lest anyone forget, that same embassy initially tried to foist a blatant falsehood by claiming that the Chinese vessel abandoned the Filipino fishermen — a crime under international law—because it was “besieged by 7 or 8 Filipino fishing boats.”

The Chinese Embassy’s statement, posted on June 14, 2019: “China’s preliminary investigation shows: at 2400 hours on June 9, 2019, ‘Yuemaobinyu 42212,’ a Chinese fishing boat from Guangdong Province, China, engaged in a light purse seine operation, was berthed at the vicinity of Liyue Tan (Reed Bank) (116 ° 40 ‘E, 11 ° 35’ N) of the Nansha Qundao. It was suddenly besieged by 7 or 8 Filipino fishing boats.

During evacuation, 42212 failed to shun a Filipino fishing boat, and its steel cable on the lighting grid of larboard bumped into the Filipino pilothouse. The Filipino fishing boat tilted and its stern foundered. The Chinese captain tried to rescue the Filipino fishermen, but was afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats. Therefore, having confirmed the fishermen from the Filipino boat were rescued on board of other Filipino fishing boats, 42212 sailed away from the scene. The above shows that there is no such thing as ‘hit-and-run.’”

Fine yarn, and a complete lie. Beijing discarded the spin soon after, and settled for calling the Gem-Ver sinking “an ordinary maritime incident” — a specious characterization Mr. Duterte would also adopt. Over a year later, Beijing and Manila’s ties are as cozy as ever, while in that period the battered Filipino fishermen would see themselves abandoned a second time, vilified by administration attack dogs and left high and dry by their own government.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/131303/remember-gem-ver#ixzz6lh4d8a7I

NON-NEGOTIABLE

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:30 AM July 19, 2020

Finally, four years after an international tribunal in The Hague struck down China’s expansive claims over the South China Sea and handed the Philippines a historic victory, which the Duterte administration then promptly mothballed to pursue better relations with Beijing, the Philippines appears to be ready to show some spine and resolve on the issue.

“The award is non-negotiable,” declared Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the decision, handed down on July 12, 2016. Based on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), The Hague “authoritatively ruled that China’s claim of historic rights to resources within the sea … had no basis in law,” pointed out Locsin, adding: “The Philippines, as a law-abiding, peace-loving, and responsible member of the international community, reaffirms on this occasion its adherence to the award and its enforcement without any possibility of compromise or change.

Fighting words, and long overdue. China has refused to accept the ruling, describing it as a “sham,” and has gone on to appropriate resource-rich reefs, shoals, and islands in the West Philippine Sea that are well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone as defined by Unclos, which, incidentally, also counts China as a member. And for all the expressions of friendship and appreciation Beijing has lavished on the Duterte administration for its deferential stance toward China, it was quick to slap down Locsin’s bold declaration with a curt riposte: “China’s position is consistent, clear, and firm,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said. “The South China Sea arbitration and its so-called award are illegal and invalid. China does not accept or participate in the arbitration, nor does it accept or recognize the so-called award.”

…According to a Social Weather Stations survey released last July 14, 70 percent of Filipinos agree “that the Philippines should assert its territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea,” and 82 percent say the country should “form alliances with other democratic countries that are ready to help defend its territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea.”

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/131916/non-negotiable#ixzz6lh1y8WTb