What defines a sea? According to Nationalgeographic.org, a sea is a portion of the ocean that is encompassed by or partially enclosed by land. In other words, the surrounding land areas determine the boundaries of a specific sea.
Now, let’s explore the South China Sea (SCS). As stated by Wikipedia.org, the South China Sea is a marginal sea located in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is surrounded in the north by the shores of South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by Taiwan and the northwestern Philippines (specifically Luzon, Mindoro, and Palawan), and in the south by the Indonesian islands of Borneo, eastern Sumatra, and the Bangka Belitung Islands. The sea encompasses an area of around 3,500,000 km². This description acknowledges that China’s portion of land enclosure is just a small corner of Southeast Asia.
However, I believe the term “Indochinese Peninsula” is outdated and only relevant to colonial times. Why include distant India as a reference at all? Additionally, it’s essential to enumerate the Southeast Asian countries with adjacent coastlines, which Wikipedia fails to do.
Wikipedia cites the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) as the authority on the location of the SCS: south of the Chinese mainland; east of Vietnam; west of the Philippines, up to the east entrance of the Strait of Singapore; and south of the Bintan and Batam islands. It also states that the IHO recommended in 1986 that the southern limit of the SCS should be the Natuna Sea, which is situated between peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Furthermore, Wikipedia provides translations of the SCS’s name in Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Malay, Indonesian, Filipino, and Portuguese. The Tagalog translation is “Dagat Timog Tsina,” and it notes that the Philippine government officially designates its eastern parts as the “West Philippine Sea.”
I humbly propose naming this body of water the Southeast Asia Sea (SEAS) since it is mostly enclosed by Southeast Asian countries. Consequently, what is currently referred to as the SCS is actually adjacent to only a small portion of southern China, near Hainan, which is China’s southernmost province. In my opinion, the natural southern limit of the term SCS is a line drawn between Hainan Island and the northernmost part of the Philippines. This line also serves as the natural northern limit of what could be called the South East Asia Sea (SEAS). Referring to it as the SEAS doesn’t mean that it belongs to Southeast Asia; rather, it simply signifies its location within Southeast Asia.
Similarly, calling a body of water the SCS does not and has never implied that it exclusively belongs to China. It does not and has never given the Chinese Coast Guard the authority to patrol its coastal areas as if it were an inland lake within China.
In Tagalog, the SEAS would be “Dagat Timog-Silangang Asya.” Let’s make sure there are translations in all Filipino languages. We should adopt the English abbreviation SEAS and consciously stop using SCS. Moreover, let’s rename all the maps produced in the Philippines. This should be our top priority, as when a country changes the names on its official maps, the world takes notice, just like when the West Philippine Sea was established.
It’s important to differentiate between the opinions of the Filipino people and the Chinese people, separate from their respective governments. While there are open scientific opinion polls in the Philippines, China doesn’t have the same luxury. The net trust ratings among Filipinos clearly show that China is the most distrusted country, whereas the United States is the most trusted.
China is not lacking in the ability to conduct high-quality opinion polls. The Chinese social scientists I have met are competent and well-intentioned individuals. However, they lack the trust of the Chinese government to conduct their own research. Although there are consumer market research surveys in China, they are closely scrutinized by the government. Research companies would face consequences if they were to accept a commission to include a political question in a survey.
The Chinese people are kept in the dark about the Philippines’ victory at the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Our late ambassador to China, Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana, informed me that Marites Vitug’s book, “Rock Solid: How the Philippines Won Its Maritime Case against China,” is not available in Chinese bookstores. This absence is due to the fact that the Chinese people don’t typically read English books, and there is no translation available. So for the China Coast Guard staff, who may wonder silently, why do their duties take them so far away from China’s coasts, “Rock Solid” remains a banned book.
Perhaps the Philippine Coast Guard ships should also equip themselves with water cannons. Should we even consider arming them from the Chinese embassy’s septic tank? I also jokingly pondered the idea of bagoong cannon and durian-cannon, but it would be a waste to use food as ammunition. After all, the Chinese people have their own culinary preferences that may seem unconventional to others, much like Filipinos.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any concerns or suggestions.
Please note: This article originally appeared on INQUIRER.net and has been revised.
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