MANILA, Philippines — The 10-dash line shown in the 2023 edition of Beijing’s standard national map is unequivocal proof of its expansionist policy in the South China Sea, according to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr.
“That is proven by the new administrative map where they added another dash line. That is the best evidence of their expansionist agenda – to dominate the whole South China Sea and perhaps beyond,” Teodoro said during last week’s deliberations on the Department of National Defense’s proposed P232-billion budget for 2024.
“Whenever it calls the Philippines puppets of the US, China implicitly admits that they are expanding by using the word ‘contain,’ ” he added.
Aside from the Philippines, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan have also protested the latest development in China’s map, which previously featured a nine-dash line that virtually claimed the entire South China Sea.
Proxy war
Sen. Francis Tolentino agreed with President Marcos that the conflict in the West Philippine Sea is not a proxy war.
Marcos last week rejected “misleading narratives that frame the disputes in the South China Sea solely through the lens of strategic competition between two powerful countries.” He made the assertion during the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“It’s not a proxy war because the United States is not our only ally here. Japan is also our ally, Australia is our ally, the United Kingdom is our ally, Europe is our ally... I also mentioned in recent weeks, India has emerged as an (ally). So almost everyone,” Tolentino said in an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday.
China has been an aggressor in numerous incidents that occurred in the South China Sea, despite being a signatory to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.
In 2016, China’s “historic rights” claim over the entire South China Sea was debunked in an arbitration case after The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines.