Aquino’s comments on disputed waters slammed by China media

SHANGHAI:  Chinese state media has slammed Philippine President Benigno Aquino over remarks that compared Beijing’s claims in the disputed South China Sea to demands for land made by Nazi Germany to the former Czechoslovakia.

In an interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday, Aquino called for more global support for the Philippines over the territorial issue, comparing it to the failure by the West to support Czechoslovakia against Adolf Hitler’s demand in 1938.

“If we say yes to something we believe is wrong now, what guarantee is there that the wrong will not be further exacerbated down the line?” the paper quoted him.

“At what point do you say, ‘Enough is enough’? Well, the world has to say it - remember that the Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease Hitler to prevent World War Two.”

China’s official Xinhua new agency blasted Aquino’s comments late on Wednesday, saying Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea have a “sound historical foundation” and that it also seeks to resolve the issue through dialogue rather than confrontation.

“His latest reported attack, in which he senselessly compared his northern neighbour to the Nazi Germany, exposed his true colour as an amateurish politician who was ignorant both of history and reality,” it said in an English-language commentary.

“He also joined the ranks of disgraced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who created great controversy after comparing Japan-China relations to those between the United Kingdom and Germany in the run-up to the First World War last month at the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland,” Xinhua said.

Such commentaries, while not official statements, can be read as a reflection of Chinese government thinking. China’s Foreign Ministry has yet to comment on Aquino’s remarks.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Aquino stood by the comments.

“The lesson for all free countries is this: there is a need for all to stand up for what is right,” spokesman Herminio Coloma Jnr said.

“It should be right is might and not might is right.”

China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have territorial claims across a waterway that provides 10 percent of the global fisheries catch and carries $5tr in ship-borne trade.

Reuters