China takes good care of its fishermen. In 1997, when Philippine authorities were napping in a noodle house in the middle of the monsoon season, the Chinese set up three circular huts on stilts over Mischief Reef – an area just 209 kilometers off Palawan, which the Philippines calls Panganiban Reef and claims as its own. When Manila protested the construction of the structures, Beijing claimed the huts were merely shelters for Chinese fishermen.
In the past years, numerous Chinese fishermen have been apprehended by Philippine authorities for poaching in Philippine waters particularly around Palawan. The Chinese poach even endangered marine species including giant sea turtles. But never mind; it looks like the Chinese had other plans for Mischief Reef. A barracks-like structure was added to the three huts. The additional structure was later replaced by a three-story concrete building that flies the Chinese flag.
Today tension has risen again in the region following reports that China had deployed a warship in the South China Sea. The Chinese said it was not a warship but a fishing patrol vessel. That body of water did not get its name because it is part of Chinese territory; it merely means the water lies south of the Chinese mainland. But this has not stopped Beijing from laying claim to the entire area, including those such as Mischief Reef that lie within the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of other countries, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Beijing has said it wants a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. It should match its rhetoric with action, by honoring its commitment to the status quo. But Beijing has a record of asserting its claim to the potentially oil-rich islands and reefs that dot the South China Sea by first setting up buoys on a reef. When the buoys are not blown up by other claimants, these are replaced with concrete markers. Left unchallenged, the Chinese then build temporary wooden or bamboo shelters, such as the huts on Mischief. Again left unchallenged, the huts eventually give way to concrete buildings.
Critics call it a “creeping invasion.” If China wants the kind of international respect that is commensurate with its growing economic and military might, it should learn the ways of neighborly behavior. Respect is earned, not imposed on neighbors.