On the cusp of winning an arbitration case against China before a UN-backed arbitration court, then-President Noynoy Aquino in November 2015 hosted his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and several other world leaders on the red carpet to the APEC Summit venue. The two leaders exchanged no words, underlying icy ties.
What made the walk at the PICC less awkward was then Chilean President Michelle Bachelet who stood between Aquino and a glum-looking Xi. The two leaders would later engage in a short chat during a later event.
By that time, China had built artificial islands over reefs and outcrops within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone or EEZ, the construction hastened by two encounters at Recto Bank and Scarborough Shoal a couple of years prior. Seven months later, barely after a month after Aquino stepped down, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague invalidated Beijing's vast claims.
Standing up to China and winning in an international court is one of the legacies of Aquino, who died on Thursday at 61 years old. His moves would have repercussions on how future leaders would handle Beijing. His immediate successor, President Rodrigo Duterte, would accuse Aquino government officials of mishandling the dispute.
"We stood up to China because it was the right thing to do. China's aggressiveness gave us the opportunity to finally resolve this long-standing dispute in this part of the region," Aquino said in a speech earlier this year, accepting the JW Diokno Human Rights prize.
There were two tipping points
In early 2012, Chinese ships chased a survey vessel that sought to look for oil in Recto Bank (Reed Bank), claiming it needed permission from Beijing.
That same year, Chinese vessels barred the Philippine Navy from apprehending Chinese poachers in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), resulting in a tense standoff.
Aquino accused China of betraying a deal brokered by the U.S. for ships from both countries to leave the shoal. The Chinese vessels stayed and that was the "last straw," Aquino said in the Feb. 26, 2021 speech that was published Friday by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
Later that year, Aquino would assert the Philippines' claim by renaming the portion of the South China Sea that falls within Manila's EEZ as the West Philippine Sea.
Even before those two incidents in Reed Bank and Scarborough Shoal, Aquino had struck a nationalist tone on the disputed waters.
"Now, our message is clear: What is ours is ours; setting foot on Recto Bank is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue," he said in one of his State of the Nation Addresses.
Aquino tried to be friends with China
From late August to early September 2011, Aquino embarked on his first and only visit to China, then still under President Hu Jintao. The two leaders witnessed the signing of agreements targeting $60 billion in trade and investment, playing down the disputes at that time.
In one huddle with Filipino reporters, Aquino said Hu sought to move the process for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. It's a significant development, he said, because “Now
there’s a desire to really put in the implementing rules and regulations.”
Until now, there has only been a "declaration" for a code of conduct, not the code itself, meaning it's non-binding. That's why China can do pretty much anything it wants to.
Aquino at that time saw the importance of engaging China. “We want to resolve the conflicting claims so that we can have our own gas," he told state radio on Aug. 29, 2011. “Once we have our own, we will not be affected by events in other parts of the world.”
China accorded full state honors to Aquino. Hu received him at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. He was also given a tour of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
One highlight of the trip: Aquino visited the sleepy village of Hongjian in Xiamen, where the Cojuangco family traces its roots. His mother, former President Cory Aquino, is a fourth-generation Filipino-Chinese descended from Co Yu Hwan, a Chinese immigrant from Hongjian village who settled in the Philippines in 1861.
He also viewed the araucaria tree planted by President Cory Aquino in 1988, when she visited.
Reportr is now on Quento. Download the app on iOS and Android or visit the Quento website for more articles and videos from Reportr and your favorite websites.
