Aquino squanders chance to improve ties with China – Beijing media

President Benigno Aquino III. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III remarks might have slammed the doors on improving relations with China, a Chinese columnist said in a commentary published on the state news agency.

“His latest reported attack against China, in which he senselessly compared his northern neighbor to the Nazi Germany, exposed his true color as an amateurish politician who was ignorant both of history and reality,” Ming Jinwei wrote in his column published February 5.

“Aquino’s latest attack against China may very much have squandered this unique opportunity to further improve relations with China,” he said.

Aquino said in an interview with the New York Times Tuesday that China’s claims in the South China Sea was like Adolf Hitler’s occupation of Czechoslovakia before World War II.

“At what point do you say: ‘Enough is enough’? Well, the world has to say it—remember that the Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease Hitler to prevent World War II,” Aquino said in his interview.

The commentary called Aquino’s statement a “lame comparison” and said he continues to “create animosity with China.

“Territorial disputes are always sensitive issues. No one expects them to be resolved overnight. Thus it is important for political leaders to sound rational and reasonable when they address them,” Jinwei said.

He defended China’s claims in the entire South China Sea including portions of the Philippines 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone saying it has a historical basis.

The Philippines has filed an arbitration case before the United Nations permanent court of arbitration against China’s territorial claims.

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