WHAT should the Philippines do about the “salami-slicing” and “cabbage-wrapping” strategy that China is applying in the Spratlys? It has left our armed forces looking like the skinny kid at the beach, in that old-time Charles Atlas ad, with the bully kicking sand on the weakling’s face.
Like the quintessential bully, the Chinese are taking over portions of the disputed territory, slice by slice, like cutting up salami, and blocking entry to whatever they have encroached on, like wrapping it with the layers of a cabbage.
For instance, according to Chinese Gen. Zhang Zhaozhong, they plan to set up a blockade to prevent the Philippine marines stationed at Ayungin Reef from receiving fresh supplies. Boasted Zhaozhong, “Only a few troopers are able to station (there), but there is no food or even drinking water there. If we carry out the ‘cabbage’ strategy, you will not be able to send food and drinking water onto the islands. Without the supply for one or two weeks, the troopers stationed there will leave the islands on their own. Once they have left, they will never be able to come back.
Expectedly, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has declared that he has no intentions of pulling out his troops from the area, meaning that he plans to deliver supplies to them. That could mean an open clash with the Chinese navy.
Vowed Gazmin, “We will fight for what is ours up to the last soldier standing.”
I have no doubt that Gazmin meant what he said. Indeed, I have no doubt that Filipino soldiers will be willing to die fighting, no matter how superior the Chinese forces are. Whatever criticisms might be hurled at our soldiers, cowardice is not among them
But it also appears doubtless that they will, in fact, die fighting..
Who knows? Maybe, such a bloody confrontation will embarrass the Chinese enough before the international community to make them back off. But that’s assuming that the Chinese are capable of being embarrassed, when it comes to encroaching on the territory of others. No such luck. Ask the Dalai Lama about Tibet.
Or, maybe, it will force the hand of the United States. Will it really come to the defense of its faithful and loyal ally the way it has demonstrated a readiness to rush to the aid of Taiwan?
Or, maybe, it will chasten the braggadocio-prone members of the Philippine Congress, finally shut the loquacious trap of Miriam Defensor-Santiago, expose Bayan, the League of Filipino Students and other leftist groups for the toothless slogan-yelling pretenders that they are, and force them to acknowledge the trade-off that a mouse needs to accept when caught between two elephants.
Pride – National Pride – is what we ostensibly upheld when the Philippine Senate, during the tenure of Cory Aquino, refused to ratify the treaty that would have allowed the renewal of the Military Bases Agreement beyond 1991.
With the current standoff with China, that pride could well be described as Pride Chicken, because all the talk about defending our turf to the death is, in fact, a game of chicken.
Noynoy Aquino declared, at the 115th anniversary of the Philippine Navy, “We have a clear message to the world. The Philippines is for Filipinos, and we have the capability to resist bullies entering our backyard.”
In fact, noted a media pundit, the Chinese bullies have not only already entered our backyard, they are keeping Filipino fishermen and, soon, our naval forces from entering it.
Is there more to be read in Aquino’s defiant statement than meets the eye? I think so. I think that he and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario have already decided to play the US hand, either assured of America stepping in – or hoping that it will do so – when the game of chicken reaches the point of no return and the bluffs are called.
China is playing a game of chicken too. By resorting to the salami-slicing tactic, it is hoping that America will find no reason to bring in the troops. Until the point of no return is reached, for all of Gen. Zhaozhong’s hot air, the Chinese will turn tail once the US shows its fangs.
But the point of no return could be reached once Gazmin’s marines start exchanging fire with the Chinese navy.
The harsh reality is that the Philippines may not lack in people willing to die for the country, but against a far superior military force, we’re wide open to the formalization of the Chinese occupation of our country.
One of our most prominent pundits has already suggested “swallowing our pride” and asking America to step in and stop the bully. In fact, it’s not really a matter of swallowing our national pride. It’s matter of being realistic. If this were a game of poker, the Philippines is not necessarily left without a good hand. It’s a matter of knowing how to play it.
The only way, at this point, to foil the economic and military agenda of the Chinese is to pit them against a stronger force, and to accept the fact that this other force has its own agenda.
Part of the reality check is acknowledging the fact that the United States finds it in its own best interests – not necessarily the best interests of the Philippines – to keep the lanes of the South China Sea (well, okay, West Philippine Sea) clear and unhindered by any power except itself.
It’s not as if the Philippines is the only country that will allow the establishment of US bases. America has a military presence all over the world, and many of those countries depend on the US for their national defense.
Another part of the reality check is acknowledging that “small slices of salami” being lapped up by China may be “tolerated” by America, if only to avoid an open confrontation. To use an exaggerated example, why mind it if China swallows up the Spratlys, as long as Beijing does not declare a repeat of Manila Open City?
Of course, the Philippines should mind losing its stake in the Spratlys. Which means that, the sooner an open confrontation with China is forced, the sooner the US will be constrained to show its hand.
This may seem brutal, but the brave Philippine Marines at Ayungin Reef and Gazmin’s re-supply brigade could be the cannon fodder that will cause America to fire a shot across China’s bow.
There’s one other option of course: dispatch a commando force to the Spratlys, led by Miriam Defensor-Santiago and the “nationalists” and leftists, to take on the Chinese navy. That should give Santiago an opportunity to show how tough she is, and the leftists, a chance to demonstrate their willingness to die for their nationalism.
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