m******o
发帖数: 542 | 1 War talk, it seems, is all the rage in China at the minute.
Yes, there are serious people in serious publications seriously advocating
war.
You might have missed it during all the fuss about Chen Guangcheng, but, for
a month now, China has been embroiled in an increasingly bellicose dispute
with the Philippines.
So what is going on? Well, strange as it may seem, the two stories may be
connected.
At the heart of the issue is what is called Scarborough Shoal by the
Philippines and Huangyan Island by China, a little more than 100 miles (
160km) from the Philippines and 500 miles from China.
The names are a bit misleading because this is a series of rocks, reefs and
small islands stretching across an area of about 150sq km (58 sq miles) of
the South China Sea, claimed by both the Philippines and China.
You can see what one "island" looks like here, a screenshot taken from a
Chinese TV report yesterday - that is the reporter posing on the rock, and
then planting the Chinese flag on it, which gives an insight into the way
the issue is being played by China's media.
For a month now, there has been a standoff between Chinese and Philippine
fishing and coastguard vessels near the outcrops.
The Global Times, a highly nationalistic English language paper produced by
the Communist Party's People's Daily Group, has a useful map that shows how
far China's territorial claims extend, on this special page it is now
devoting to this 'conflict'.
On Tuesday, China's Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying summoned a Philippine
diplomat for the third time in this standoff, and delivered a warning, that
China has "made all preparations to respond to any escalation of the
situation by the Philippine side".
On Wednesday, the Global Times helpfully explained in its editorial that Ms
Fu's "remarks are seen as China sending a sign that it will not rule out the
use of force".
The paper explained: "The Philippines needs to be taught a lesson for its
aggressive nationalism. For China, the standoff over Huangyan Island is a
matter of sovereignty. And now Manila needs to be defeated in this area...
If the standoff escalates into a military clash, the international community
should not be completely surprised".
For China, sovereignty is one of the key issues it says it will not
compromise on, so it is sending strong signals but also boxing itself in.
Unlike the Chen Guangcheng case, which has been heavily censored, China's
internet is full of coverage of this story (for a taste, here is the special
page created by sohu.com) which says China's sovereignty has been
challenged and the Philippines is creating problems.
So it is fair to believe all this coverage is officially approved.
The odd thing here is that the Philippine navy consists of just one proper
ship and that is an ancient US Coast Guard cutter which is hardly a match
for China's navy, as this online commentary by "The Comparativist" makes
clear.
The Comparativist writes: "I think this is happening because the Philippines
is so weak. The Chinese government can beat the war drums all they want,
and as loud as they want, and no war is going to happen. It's akin to
bullying someone in a wheelchair that you know can't punch back."
That's one possibility. China, and its foreign ministry in particular, have
been at the receiving end of intense criticism recently, whether over the
Chen Guangcheng case or the Bo Xilai scandal.
So building up a row with the Philippines may be a way of trying to look
tough, distract public attention, and hype a bit of nationalist fervour.
But there are dangers here too. The president of the Philippines has tweeted
this statement this week, making clear that the Philippines believes
America will help protect it from any Chinese aggression. So a dispute could
lead to a very tense situation.
China's policy in the South China Sea is not a simple matter, directed
clearly from the top as the International Crisis Group has detailed, but
affected by many different players.
And now we have more escalation. China is now piling commercial pressure on
top of the diplomatic and military pressure, halting tourism to the
Philippines, tightening inspections of fruit imports and warning its
citizens to be careful of their safety during demonstrations planned for
Manila on Friday.
It's a dangerous dynamic that could escalate much further yet. We will keep
watching. | f*******n
发帖数: 2665 | 2 说到毛左的心坎里了。
【在 m******o 的大作中提到】
: War talk, it seems, is all the rage in China at the minute.
: Yes, there are serious people in serious publications seriously advocating
: war.
: You might have missed it during all the fuss about Chen Guangcheng, but, for
: a month now, China has been embroiled in an increasingly bellicose dispute
: with the Philippines.
: So what is going on? Well, strange as it may seem, the two stories may be
: connected.
: At the heart of the issue is what is called Scarborough Shoal by the
: Philippines and Huangyan Island by China, a little more than 100 miles (
| h*******u
发帖数: 15326 | 3 傻逼英国贱人，赶快把马岛还了。再蹦跶土共卖几个导弹给阿根廷你丫就爽了
for
dispute
【在 m******o 的大作中提到】
: War talk, it seems, is all the rage in China at the minute.
: Yes, there are serious people in serious publications seriously advocating
: war.
: You might have missed it during all the fuss about Chen Guangcheng, but, for
: a month now, China has been embroiled in an increasingly bellicose dispute
: with the Philippines.
: So what is going on? Well, strange as it may seem, the two stories may be
: connected.
: At the heart of the issue is what is called Scarborough Shoal by the
: Philippines and Huangyan Island by China, a little more than 100 miles (
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