THE CORNER ORACLE – Andrew J. Masigan (Philstar.com) – October 9, 2019

Last week, I attended a talk given by Dr. Wilfredo V. Villacorta, the former Philippine ambassador to ASEAN and an expert in Chinese studies. Ambassador Villacorta spoke about how we Filipinos can better understand China’s behavior as it takes a more active role in international affairs.

The Philippines is in a precarious situation given our conflicting claims in the West Philippine Sea and our growing economic ties with our neighbor to the north. Its important that we understand the Chinese psyche.

First off, we must understand that we are not the only nation with a territorial dispute with China. China also has sovereign conflicts with Pakistan, Bhutan and India for swaths of land in their respective borders as well as with Japan for the Senkaku Islands.

The West Philippine Sea, however, is its most important territorial claim. After all, this nautical superhighway is where one-third of world trade passes through. To control the West Philippine Sea is to control the flow of goods in the most populous region in the world. It is also where an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil, 190 trillion feet of natural gas and 10 percent of the world’s fishing resources can be found.

More importantly, however, the West Philippine Sea is China’s most vulnerable geographic zone. A simple blockade of cargo ships to and from the Chinese mainland can bring the Chinese economy to its knees. Exacerbating matters is that the waters form part of the exclusive economic zones of countries allied with the Unites States. Hence, the need for China to sequester these waters and militarize it. Read more…