Viewpoint: China must adopt unyielding attitude to hold Philippines accountable

BEIJING, May 17, (ChinaMil) -- The incident that a Taiwanese fisherman was shot dead by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has been heating up. Maj. Gen. Jin Yi'nan, director of the Institute for Strategic Studies under the National Defense University (NDU) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), recently expressed that China must adopt an unyielding attitude to hold the Philippine side responsible for the incident and safeguard rights and interests of all the Chinese nationals worldwide.

Jin Yi'nan pointed out that the Philippines achieved national independence from the United States in 1920s. It has long been plundered by western powers, and therefore, it should take the same attitude as China towards power politics, that is, to struggle for national independence and national liberation. In November 2002, the ASEAN countries and China signed a document entitled the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, under which all the sides undertook "to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, without resorting to the threat or use of force". The Philippine PCG's practice of shooting dead the Taiwanese fisherman is a violation of the declaration.

Jin Yi'nan said bluntly that the Philippines understands only one "language", that is, the use of violence and power, which was imposed by colonists in the past, and the "language" has brought about bad influence on international politics and the relations among nations. After the incident, separatists seeking "Taiwan independence" even took the advantage of the occasion to stir up trouble, and unexpectedly, it was alleged on the Taiwan Island that the Taiwanese fishing boat was mistaken for a boat from China's mainland and thus was shot by the Philippine coastguards, and the Philippine side wouldn't have shot if it had known that it was a Taiwanese fishing boat. The matter reflects a limitation of the eastern way of thinking – a disadvantage in reasoning with and convincing the other side. The attacker only fights back against power with its power while the victim is extremely abnormal psychologically.

"Anyway, the Taiwanese fisherman was shot dead, and he was a Chinese fisherman." Jin Yi'nan expressed that the officials of China's mainland clarified their positions even earlier than those of the other side of the Taiwan Straits. China must adopt such an unyielding attitude and safeguard rights and interests of all the Chinese nationals worldwide.

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