Column: China's Journey to First World

China has been in the news lately for doing many things: defending its internal affairs from external forces, introducing a national security law in Hong Kong, and of course its role in the highly contested territorial dispute in the South China Sea. In all of these instances, the West is involved, repulsing the United States and Hong Kong's British past with strongly worded rhetoric.

China's journey to economic prosperity ever since it opened up its markets to foreign investments has come a long way, and its momentum has been sustained by major amendments to its constitution, reaching as far as Mao Zedong's philosophy to institutionalize reforms in the person of Xi Jinping. And amid this road, China has been criticized with its trade practices, even being accused of manipulating its currency, which prompted the United States to impose tariffs on transactions that led China to bring itself to the negotiating table.

But China's aggressive behavior is also felt in the ASEAN region where it commands a strong presence in bilateral ties among its members, where it suddenly claimed the South China Sea as part of its territory. It constantly flexed its military strength in the region with the aim of strongly asserting its territorial claims.

In all of such incidences, the Philippines is very vocal about China's intrusion with the territorial integrity of the country. It was even prompted to put the case forth to the United Nations where it secured a favorable decision. But China's refusal to participate in international arbitration casted doubts on its intention to abide by it.

Amid the controversy, the United States has said that it will honor the mutual defense treaty and its commitment to defend the islands is iron-clad, which provided relief to the government. Chinese vessels are literally shooing fisherman boats away and ramming coast guard boats as it exploits the country's poor defense capabilities.

Some people at home even pointed out that US Military Bases in the Philippines should have stopped these incidents from happening. A mutual defense treaty without military assets is deemed useless, and debates about American presence in the islands simply amplify the case for this, although communist elements in the country may have a different view.

President Obama has once said that China's rise is to be respected. But it is incumbent upon China to be responsible in its pursuit to greater prosperity.

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Picture from Pixabay.