History teaches that communist China should never be trusted. China is naturally treacherous and does not honor its promises.
Beijing conveniently invokes International Law when doing so favors its selfish interests. It ignores International Law when it does not need it, or when International Law does not validate its aggressive behavior.
One of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s objectives during his recent state visit to China was to seek an easing of tensions between Chinese naval warships and Philippine sea vessels in the West Philippine Sea.
Over the past two decades, China has illegally seized vital islets and shoals in the West Philippine Sea which fall within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. Naval bases and airstrips for Chinese military use were eventually built on the structures, in defiance of International Law.
In July 2016, the Permanent Court of International Arbitration ruled that Chinese claims in the West Philippine Sea had no justification under International Law. Beijing, however, insisted the arbitration court had no jurisdiction over China.
Amidst artificial smiles and ceremonial sips of tea as reported by the international news media, China’s dictator, President Xi Jinping, promised President Marcos that the Chinese navy would not use force and intimidation in dealing with Filipino fishing vessels in the disputed maritime area.
Days after President Marcos returned home, Chinese navy vessels continued to drive away Filipino fishermen from their traditional fishing grounds in the West Philippine Sea.
As if that bullying incident wasn’t enough, a Chinese navy vessel recently engaged a Philippine Coast Guard vessel delivering supplies to Filipino troops at a station in the West Philippine Sea. The Chinese vessel repeatedly pointed a military-grade laser ray at the PCG vessel, thus causing several PCG personnel to suffer temporary blindness.
After the Philippine government lodged a diplomatic protest against China, apologists of Beijing claimed that the Chinese naval warship did not engage the PCG ship and that the said warship was merely using the laser ray to assure safe and peaceful maritime navigation.
That excuse is plain hogwash. It is what’s expected of a communist country that uses propaganda to hide its government’s misdeeds and to deceive the public. Deceptive propaganda has always been an important component of a communist government like the one obtaining in mainland China.
The typical propaganda claims of Beijing are predictable. Their mantras range from “China’s desire to maintain peace and stability in the region” to “protecting China’s interests against foreign aggressors.
Actually, the opposite is true. China has always been the source of tension and hostility in East and South East Asia, and all aggression in both regions is often instigated by the communist government in Beijing.
The communist Chinese are also two-faced.
Before it won its bid to host the 2008 Olympics, China had been busy with its naval adventurism in East and South East Asia, and with its vile propaganda attacks against Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines.
When China won its Olympic bid, Beijing eased up on Chinese aggression and bullying in the area. Soon after the Olympics, Chinese naval vessels resumed their aggressive bullying.
They are no different from the Nazis of World War II.
China’s propagandists have always highlighted Japanese atrocities in China during World War II, but the same propagandists are silent on China’s rabid support of North Korea’s infamous invasion of South Korea in 1950, and its sponsorship of the murderous Khmer Rouge communist regime in Cambodia, which killed a third of the Cambodian population.
Beijing also conveniently hides its 1950 barbarous invasion of Tibet, which forced the Dalai Lama to go into exile, and its war with neighboring India over disputed territory.
China openly supports Russia’s ongoing illegal war against Ukraine and does not hide its desire to invade Taiwan.
In sum, the Chinese communists will never tell the truth; they should never be trusted; and they have no word of honor.