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Be calm and collected CROSSROADS Jonathan De la Cruz 04/13/2012

Friday, April 13, 2012

Be calm and collected

CROSSROADS
Jonathan De la Cruz
04/13/2012
It is well that P-Noy and Foriegn Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario have decided to lower the decibel on the reported standoff between our biggest warship, the second hand Hamilton class cutter BRP Gregorio del Pilar, and two Chinese patrol boats over the presence of Chinese fishing boats in the Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal to us), an islet 125 miles off the coast of Zambales which we insist forms part of our 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). There is really no need for us to be aggressive and break a sweat over this latest incident. This matter can and should be resolved in as calm and collected a manner as possible. Saber rattling will not get us anywhere, only sober diplomacy can.

So even as we maintain as we must that the shoal is well within our EEZ we have to consider the realities on the ground. First, the Chinese have probably laid a far stronger claim on the shoal noting that it is included as Huangyan Island in old Chinese maps dating as far back as the 5th century — the so-called six dash nautical sheet. Too, China asserts that the area has always been considered a fishing ground for Chinese fishermen mostly from the nearby Hainan island and thus owned by it..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120413com5.html

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