China denies incursion into West Philippine Sea | The Philippine Star » News » Headlines
We base our claim in the Spratlys (Kalayaan) on the theory of RES NULIUS (discovery of a thing not owned by any party). We "discovered" the islands in the 1950s (by a Filipino merchant marine captain Coloma). China and Vietnam claim the Paracels and the Spratlys based on the theory of OWNERSHIP "since time immemorial." Their legal and factual basis? Maps they themselves had made centuries ago. Those were the isolationist times when China looked at itself as the "center of the universe" and all others were "barbarians." Asean cannot discipline or control China on the issue. China is the most aggressive claimant in the region. It can easily do so by reason of its military and economic might. Only another superpower can discipline and neutralize it - the USA. It is good we have a Mutual Defense Treaty with the USA. But that's not the point. The issue is this: Is it a correct foreign policy for us to rely solely on the anemic and over-friendly Asean mechanism to enlighten and correct China's ego and its desires for geographical and geopolitical expansion? I do not think so. Asean concerns itself more with doing business with China than with a frontal debate and resolution of controversial regional geopolitical issues. It would be wrong for Noynoy to rely solely on Asean on this issue. In the long run, Asean would be helpless, if not inutile. Only the UN Security Council and the USA can ultimately help us when things explode.
