on philippine sovereignty, us and china

8/2/2019 On Philippine Sovereignty, US and China

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the territories belonging to the Philippines. But so far China's actions and actuations manifestassertiveness rather than outright military aggression. The Philippine reactionary governmentshould desist from self-fulfilling its claim of China's aggression by engaging in an anti-Chinascare campaign.

The Filipino people and progressive forces must consciously differentiate their position from

that of the Aquino regime, its military subalterns and its Akbayan special agents who pretendto be super patriots against China but are in fact servile to the interests of US imperialism andare using the anti-China scare campaign to justify the escalation of US military intervention inthe Philippines and US hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.

At any rate, China must not violate Philippine national sovereignty and territorial integrity, theUN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Code of Conduct it agreed to with the ASEAN.The apparently aggressive or assertive acts and words of China are in consonance with itsown premise of national sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as with the bourgeoischaracter of the Chinese state that may indicate an imperialist tendency or ambitions.

The Chinese state is blatantly a capitalist state. Only occasionally does it claim to besocialist so as to cover up its capitalist character as the revisionists in power systematicallydid in the past. Whatever is its character, the Chinese state must not infringe or threaten toinfringe Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity. When it does, it opens itself to criticismand opposition by political and diplomatic action.

RR 2: On the other hand, would criticism of China serve the US ploy of increasing its military presence in the region by supporting the claim that China is indeed a major threat toPhilippine sovereignty? Would such criticism serve to support the claim that China is indeed a major threat while obfuscating the US continuous undermining and violation of Philippinesovereignty? How important is it that the Left join in the assertion of Philippinesovereignty against incursions by China?

JMS: Criticism and opposition to any actual incursion by China is consistent with theassertion of national sovereignty and does not serve the US ploy so long as we expose at thesame time why and how the Aquino regime's posture against alleged incursions by China aremeant to serve US goals in the region.

We must be alert to and oppose the malicious efforts of the US and the Aquino regime tohype China as an imperialist aggressor in order to allow the No. 1 imperialist to further entrench itself militarily in the Philippines and realize its strategy of encircling China andenhancing its hegemony over East Asia and entire Asia-Pacific region. You should takecritical notice of the fact that the agents of US imperialism like Aquino, his military sidekicksand his Akbayan hangers-on are presenting themselves as superpatriots against China whilethey allow the US to increase to increase the presence of military forces and activities under the Visiting Forces Agreement, the Balikatan exercises and various other pretexts.

It is a matter of principle to invoke national sovereignty and territorial integrity against China'sclaims on certain islands, reefs and shoals that belong to the Philippines. But we shouldexpose and oppose the US and the Aquino regime for actively undertaking what are obviouslyanti-China provocations and propaganda aimed at justifying the escalation of US military



intervention and further entrenchment of US forces in the Philippines, as part of the strategicscheme of the US to preserve and strengthen its hegemony over the Asia-Pacific region,particularly East Asia.

Further, the US imperialists are increasing their pressure on China to privatize its state-ownedenterprises, to restrain its bourgeois nationalist impulses, to yield further to US economic and

security dictates and to further promote the pro-US or pro-West bourgeois forces withinChina. In comparison to the Philippines, China is a far larger country for imperialistexploitation and oppression. Having more economic and political interests in China than inthe Philippines, the US is using the Philippines as a staging base for actions aimed atpressuring and influencing China rather than protecting the Philippines from China.

The US-RP Mutual Defense Treaty does not contain an automatic retaliation provision. TheUS has used this treaty as the basis for the Visiting Forces Agreement and for the escalationof US military intervention in the Philippines. But in case of attack from any foreign power, thePhilippines has no basis for expecting or demandingautomatic retaliation from the US. The treaty allows the US to act strictly in its nationalinterest and use its constitutional processes to bar the Philippines from demanding automaticretaliation against a third party that attacks the Philippines.

TheUS and China can always agree to cooperate in exploiting the Philippines. In fact, theyhave long been cooperating in exploiting the Philippines. The Chinese comprador bigbourgeoisie in both the Philippines (Henry Sy, Lucio Tan and the like) and China (within thebureaucracy and outside) are trading and financial agents of the US and other imperialistpowers.

RR 3: The Aquino government has availed of diplomatic venues to resolve the dispute.Meanwhile, the Chinese incursions continue. The Philippines is a weak country militarily and has no capability for securing its territory. What would be the requirements for thePhilippines to be able to effectively assert its sovereignty (not limited of course to questions of territory)? Briefly, how can the Philippines develop a credible external defense?

JMS: Rather than entertain hopes that the Aquino regime would defend Philippine sovereigntyand territorial integrity, the Filipino people and progressive forces must resolutely andmilitantly expose and oppose the puppetry, shameless mendicancy and the hypocrisy of the regime in pretending to be for national sovereignty and territorial integrity against Chinawhile inviting and welcoming increased US military intervention in the Philippines and usingthe country as a base for strengthening US hegemony in the Asia Pacific region.

Only the Filipino people and revolutionary forces can gain the capability to secure, control anddefend their territory by fighting for and achieving national and social liberation in the firstplace from US imperialist domination and from such reactionary regimes of the bigcompradors and landlords like the Aquino regime. Otherwise the US and their puppets willalways be the bantay salakay at the expense of the people.

When the Filipino people and revolutionary forces come to power, they will certainly engagestrongly among others in metal manufacturing, ship building and fishing in close connectionwith securing the Philippine territorial sea and exclusive economic zone.They shall have internal political-military strength and socio-economic satisfaction. And they



shall develop international solidarity and use diplomatic action against any foreign power thatviolates Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity.

At the moment, the US and Aquino regime are engaged in a calibrated anti-Chinapropaganda campaign in order to justify and allow the US to control the Philippines and East

Asia militarily. We are being subjected to an anti-China scare aimed at further strengthening

the dominance of US imperialism and the domestic rule of its reactionary puppets like Aquino.Right now, we must give the highest priority to fighting these monsters.

The Filipino people and the progressive forces must complain to the entire world against anyincursive act of China and at the same time against the maneuvers of the US and its Filipinopuppets to use the anti-China campaign to further oppress and exploit the Filipino nation andpeople. By the way, the Aquino regime blows hot and cold against China. In fact, it isvulnerable to China's manipulation of Philippine exports to China like some semimanufacturesand agricultural and mineral products.

When the Filipino people and revolutionary forces win, they shall be able to bring up throughofficial representatives the issues concerning the UNCLOS to the UN General Assembly andthe Hamburg-based International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea. They can encourage thecooperation of certain countries like Russia and Norway to avoid unwelcome impositionsfrom US, UK and Netherlands in the exploration and development of oil and gas in the areasof the Philippines.

Even at this time, approaches can be made to China to avoid confrontations and tensionsover the territories that belong to the Philippines and to engage in all-round cooperation for mutual benefit, especially for the advance of national independence, the industrialdevelopment of the Philippines and the termination of the extremely oppressive andexploitative US hegemony over East Asia, which victimizes both the Philippines and China.

RR 4: What approaches would you like the Philippines to make towards China? Were suchapproaches taken into account in the 2011 NDFP proposal to the Aquino regime for analliance and truce? In this regard, what can the Left do in view of the rabid servility of the

Aquino regime to the US.

JMS: China has been known for its policy of dealing diplomatically solely with the state(rather than with the revolutionary forces) in any country and for its flexibility in consideringthe needs and demands of that state or country. It is not as imposing and as aggressive asthe US in diplomatic and economic relations with other countries. It tries to comply with whatit professes, such as the principles of independence, non-interference, equality andcooperation for mutual benefit.

Thus, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines has proposed to the Aquino regimestrategic alliance and truce in the context of peace negotiations. It has challenged the Aquinoregime to make a general declaration of common intent with the NDFP to assert nationalindependence and end unequal treaties and agreements; expand democracy throughempowerment of the workers and peasants; carry out national industrialization and landreform; foster a patriotic, scientific and pro-people culture; and adopt an independent foreignpolicy for world peace and development.



A key part of the NDFP proposal is for the Philippines to approach China and other countriesfor cooperation in the establishment of key industrial projects for the national industrializationof the country. Certainly, it would be greatly beneficial for the Filipino people that thePhilippines is industrialized and ceases to be merely an exporter of raw materials, semi-manufactures and migrant workers, mostly women.

But the US agents in the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and in Akbayan and Aquino himself supplied information on the NDFP proposal to the US embassyand Washington. They proceeded to cook up the anti-China scare campaign in order toundercut the proposal and serve US imperialist interests. It would be absurd for BAYAN,Bayan Muna and MAKABAYAN to join the rabidly pro-Aquino Akbayan or even compete withit in the anti-China scare campaign that draws away attention from US imperialism as well as

justifies US military intervention and aggression in the Philippines and the whole of East Asiaand the Asia-Pacific.

The people should know that the agents of US imperialism in the Aquino regime have usedvarious malicious and cruel tactics to block the road to a just peace. The tactics include theabduction, torture and extrajudicial killing of NDFP consultants in violation of JASIG and thecontinued imprisonment of hundreds of political prisoners in violation of CARHRIHL.

RR 5: How would you describe the contradictions between the US and China? On one hand,the US is wary of the rise of China as a military power and has sought to encircle China, yet on the other hand, the US economy is closely linked to China's. and China is said to be thebiggest creditor of the US.

JMS: There is unity and struggle between two capitalist powers in the relationship betweenthe US and China. The US is not yet really worried about China having the military strengththat can be projected outside its borders. It is more worried about China's military strengthbeing able to defend China, fend off US imperialist dictates and threats and combat separatistforces in Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.

The US strategy of encirclement is calculated to keep China as a friendly partner in theexploitation of the Chinese and other peoples. The US and China have already more thanthree decades of being close partners in promoting and benefiting from the neoliberal policyof globalization. The super-exploitation of the Chinese working people, China's tradesurpluses and huge indebtedness of the US to China are matters well within the negotiablerelations of two capitalist powers, which would rather go on takingadvantage of the working people rather than go to war against each other.

The efforts of China to find its own sources of energy and raw materials and markets andfields of investment can be at times irritating or even infuriating to the US (when the conflictsof interest occur as in Iran, Sudan, Libya and Syria). But the capitalist powers can settle their relations with each other at the expense of the working people and underdeveloped countries,until the crisis of the world capitalist system further worsens to the point that a number of capitalist powers accelerate their aggressiveness and even become fascist in their homegrounds. ###

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