PHOTO by Nestor Corrales/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—China should stop unjustified war and using force to occupy islands.
This was the emphatic statement of a group of Filipino and Vietnamese protesters on Monday as they staged a rally in front of the Chinese embassy in Makati to commemorate the 35th year of the Indochina war that killed thousands of Vietnamese soldiers including civilians.
“We are gathering here to pay tribute to the Vietnamese people who died in the 1979 border war. We firmly believe that under any circumstances, peace remains the most valuable,” said Janicee Bucco, spokesperson of the Association of Vietnamese Filipinos.
She said countries worldwide should cooperate to negate coercive diplomacy and refrain from using threat or using force in international relations.
“We would like to express our deepest concerns over what is going on in the West Philippine Sea which is a potential flashpoint of the region where the danger of war is eminent,” said Bucco.
She stressed that China is playing bullying tactics with its neighbors by pursuing unreasonable claims over the West Philippine Sea.
“We all expect responsible behaviors from China to stop the scourge of war and play its role in making and preserving peace for human beings as enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
A Vietnamese, meanwhile, recounted how the war tortured and killed his brother.
Huyn Cuc-Villoria said his brother died in the Chinese-Vietnam war.
She said she cannot explain the feelings as she joined her fellow Vietnamese commemorate the tragic event.
“We are a peace-loving people and there should be no more war,” said Villoria who is married to a Filipino.
She recalled that the war was very tragic and traumatic to her even if he was already in the Philippines when the war in Vietnam broke out.
“I don’t want that to happen again,” she said.
Another Vietnamese Minh Nguyen also called for China to stop illegal wars and to stop its greed in claiming islands in the Asia Pacific region.
The peaceful assembly was attended by almost 200 members of the Association of Vietnamese Filipinos who were all in unison in hoping a peaceful and diplomatic means to resolve disputes among countries in the region.
The group said they do not want the Vietnam-China war that claimed innocent lives and displaced many families to happen again.
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