InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA -- Leftist groups have condemned the "incursions and aggressive behaviors of China" in Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal and expressed support for all diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute.
The groups, led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), said they strongly rejected the latest pronouncements of the Chinese government telling the Philippines to get out of Scarborough Shoal.
"As a matter of principle, the Filipino people must assert Philippine sovereignty against any move to undermine it. We support all diplomatic efforts that seek to defend our territorial integrity from foreign incursions. The matter of China’s incursions must be brought to the attention of the Asean, the United Nations General Assembly, and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea," said Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr.
Despite of this, the group said the government should not use the continued intrusion of China in Scarborough Shoal as "justification for the expanded and increased presence of US troops in the Philippines," Reyes said.
Bayan said US intervention was also a "violation of national sovereignty."
Bayan criticized the Aquino government for its plans to take up the China dispute in a meeting with Washington on April 30. The planned meeting will focus on putting more US troops on Philippine territory in line with the US "rebalancing" strategy.
The militant group explained that China’s aggressive moves on Philippine territory are the results of China’s capitalist leadership "who now appear to have imperialist ambitions in the region."
"It bears noting that China’s state has long ceased to be socialist. It is now unabashedly capitalist. It's impingement on our territory is in pursuit of expanding its economic interests in the region," Reyes said.
The group meanwhile clarified that they are not against the Chinese working people.
"We express solidarity with the oppressed peoples of China in their struggle against China’s capitalist ruling class as well as US imperialist exploitation. We should be reminded that China’s bourgeois ruling elite and US imperialism, despite their differences, are united in exploiting the Chinese and Filipino working classes," Reyes said.
"The oppressed peoples of China and the Philippines should stand united in the pursuit of genuine development, respect for sovereignty and regional peace," he added.
