Del Rosario: China is modern Goliath

Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario accused China of using “bribery, brawn and bluster” to intimidate the Philippines and other claimants in the South China Sea dispute.

At the launch on Tuesday of a book detailing the Philippines’ landmark victory over China at a United Nations arbitral tribunal in 2016, Del Rosario likened China to a modern Goliath that was bound to fall.

The book “The South China Sea Arbitration: Understanding the Awards and Debating with China” was written by Alfredo Robles Jr., an international relations professor at De La Salle University.

Del Rosario said it was a “well-researched writing about a modern Goliath whose intentions, declarations and actions are to force a doctrine of dominance.”

The book, Del Rosario said, “is as well about the very Goliath, with its sheer bullying tactics, that reminds us of other Goliaths in the past.”

“We are also reminded about the lack of kindness that history has shown for similar creations,” Del Rosario added. —Dona Z. Pazzibugan