Tensions Flare in Asian Seas, Now Involving Taiwan

BEIJING - The world is growing used to reports of aggressive diplomatic and military behavior by China over ownership of the South China Sea and the East China Sea, resulting in regular standoffs mostly with Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines, some of the other claimants to disputed seas and islands there.

But a recent quarrel between Taiwan (which has historical claims to the same sea and land territories as China) and the Philippines has come as something of a surprise, and has led to allegations of “Han chauvinism” in a region where Taiwan is more normally viewed as a victim of China's “one China policy.” China claims Taiwan as a breakaway province and in recent decades has squeezed Taiwan out of most international institutions, leading to international isolation for the state.

Others say the fracas, which turned ugly with attacks on Filipino workers in Taiwan and anti-Filipino demonstrations, as well as economic sanctions by Taiwan, is more a sign of domestic Taiwanese politics than Han chauvinism (the Han are the majority ethnic group in China and Taiwan and are closely associated with the identities of both places.)

On Tuesday, a senior Philippine official responsible for Taiwan affairs, Amadeo Perez, said that the Philippines was doing everything to protect Filipino workers in Taiwan, who number nearly 90,000, Rappler, a Filipino Web site, reported, saying the falling-out had caused “so much” damage and tension.

The facts: on May 9, a Taiwanese fishing boat, the Kuang Ta Hsing no. 28, was fired on by a Filipino coast guard vessel in disputed waters southeast of Taiwan, killing Hung Shih-cheng, a 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman. The Filipino authorities said the boat tried to ram its Coast Guard vessel; Mr. Hung's son, who was on the boat, reportedly denies that. Investigations are under way by both sides.

Mr. Perez traveled to Taipei to meet top politicians and convey his “deep regret and apology over the unfortunate and unintended loss of life,” according to multiple media reports, but Taiwan refused to accept an apology “to the people of Taiwan” from the envoy of President Benigno S. Aquino III of the Philippines. Other reports said Taiwanese leaders wanted a state-to-state apology, something the Philippines said it could not do because it followed the “one China policy” and does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Writing in the South China Morning Post, the respected commentator Philip Bowring said, “Now it's Taiwan's turn to show some nationalist anger, and its target is the Philippines.”

“Taipei's reaction seems more than just local political pressures on a weak President Ma Ying-jeou but linked to the desire to show that the island's Kuomintang government is at least as eager to pursue Chinese maritime claims as Beijing,” Mr. Bowring wrote. “The same has been seen in respect of the Diaoyu islands,” he wrote, referring to the islands in the East China Sea claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.

“Taiwan's consequent higher profile in the South China Sea issues makes peaceful accommodation in the region more difficult and shows the Taipei government placing more emphasis on old nationalist doctrines than strengthening relations with its non-Chinese neighbors,” Mr. Bowring wrote. “For the Han chauvinists, an apology from the president of the Philippines is not enough. The Filipinos must grovel, be reminded that they, like Malays generally, are the serfs of the region.”

Writing in The Diplomat, J. Michael Cole, an equally respected commentator, disagreed, saying that Taiwan had mishandled the incident.

The principal reason for the standoff was that “Taipei allowed itself to be carried away by the domestic indignation over the slaying of an unarmed Taiwanese (we should furthermore note that a similar incident in 2006 remains unresolved),” Mr. Cole wrote, saying that Taiwan's president, Ma Ying-jeou, who has low popularity ratings, was seeking to “ride the wave of nationalism that, almost spontaneously, had taken over the whole of Taiwan.”

However, Mr. Cole wrote, Taiwanese official intransigence “is unlikely the product, as some commentators have suggested, of ‘Han chauvinism.' It is instead the result of something much more granular, such as local legislators' political ambitions in fishermen's constituencies, as well as by opposition parties' efforts to criticize Ma no matter what he does, especially at a time when he is vulnerable.”

Mr. Cole concluded: “A lack of worldliness, of understanding Taiwan's position within the international community, and of how its actions will be interpreted abroad, better explain what happened. Depicting Taiwan's actions as a plan by a secret cabal of ‘Han Chinese' chauvinists to take over the region simply doesn't help us understand what ultimately went wrong with Taiwan's handling of the situation.”

Some grass-roots efforts are under way in Taiwan to reduce the tensions, which have led to military exercises in the region.