via Rappler.com
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will send coast guard ships to Panatag Shoal (Scarborough), located off the coast of Zambales province, if China "persists" in harassing local fishermen in the area, according to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.I hope the Philippine Government knows what its doing.
"In case CCG (Chinese Coast Guard) Vessel will still persist [in using] water cannon [against our fishermen], response should be calibrated. We will have the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) so as to maintain white to white response and not to heighten the tension," Gazmin told government station PTV-4 on Thursday, February 27.
White to white means coast guard to coast guard operations as opposed to gray to gray meaning navy to navy. The PCG, a civilian unit, is under the Department of Transportation and Communications.
Sending navy ships to disputed waters could provoke China.
This is the lesson of the 2012 months-long standoff between Manila and Beijing in Panatag. The Philippines was said to have committed a mistake when it sent a warship – then the newly acquired BRP Gregorio Del Pilar – to deal with Chinese fishing boats. (READ: PH's 1st mistake in Scarborough).
Panatag, which is within the country's 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone, is now practically occupied by the Chinese Coast Guard.
The Chinese Coast Guard isn't the same as everyone else's....its a pure military organization that is designed to harass, interdict and incite violence on the high seas.
The Chinese want war and will use any excuse to push territorial claims.
The Ferengi among the American people that only see trade, the amount of money the Chinese lend and nothing else should have a care.
The Chinese are playing for blood. They don't give a rats ass about our values and consider us decadent, obscene and beneath contempt. Whether we like it or not the second cold war has begun.
