Philippine president's clash with China over islands divides analysts

Philippine President Benigno Aquino's confrontation with China over Scarborough Shoal - known as Huangyan Island by Beijing - divided analysts in Manila, but he scored top marks on the domestic front this year.

The islands of Scarborough Shoal, within the Philippines' 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone, are claimed by China.

"I think the Philippines overreached on this issue," said Amado Mendoza, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines. "I think we have been quite rash in confronting China, which is viewed globally as a rising dragon. The more prudent behaviour is to hedge between the US and China."

The Aquino administration "was too aggressive. It relied on an asset [the US] which it thought was there but was not there ... and it misaligned itself vis-a-vis its Asean members".

He said that at an Asean meeting in Phnom Penh, Aquino asked that a west Philippine Sea resolution be put to a vote. "That should never have happened because it is not the Asean way. As a result, the Philippines lost 8-2, with only Vietnam backing it."

The key, he said, was to form a long-term plan because "our reaction is short-term and tactical and we rely on improvisation, whereas China has a long history of strategic thinking".

But Billy Esposo, the widely read political columnist from The Philippine Star, did not share Mendoza's view. Esposo said: "I think Aquino is adopting the best possible position in protecting our interests by holding China at bay by playing close to the US. It's the only game we really have.