Update | Philippine president likens China's territorial rise to Nazi Germany's during speech in Japan
'Nobody told them to stop,' Aquino says while drawing parallels between Nazi Germany and China's actions in the South China Sea
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III drew a parallel between present-day China and Nazi Germany during a speech in Japan, hinting that the world cannot continue to appease Beijing as it claims ever-more territory in the South China Sea.
The comments come as disquiet grows over the quickening pace of China’s land reclamation programme in international waters, including its construction of a runway long enough for large military planes.
“If there was a vacuum, if the United States, which is the superpower, says ‘we are not interested’, perhaps there is no brake to ambitions of other countries,” Aquino told an audience of business leaders in Tokyo when asked about China’s rising might and the role of the US in checking it.
“I’m an amateur student of history and I’m reminded of... how Germany was testing the waters and what the response was by various other European powers,” he said referring to the Nazis’ territorial conquests in the months before the outbreak of the second world war.
“They tested the waters and they were ready to back down if for instance in that aspect, France said [to back down].
“But unfortunately, up to the annexation of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, the annexation of the entire country of Czechoslovakia, nobody said stop.
“If somebody said stop to [Adolf] Hitler at that point in time, or to Germany at that time, would we have avoided [the second world war].”
WATCH: Senior Chinese military official says South China Sea actions hinge on security
The strong comments come after US President Barack Obama on Monday weighed in on the growing tensions in the South China Sea, urging regional powers - particularly China - to respect the law and stop “throwing elbows”.
Aquino, who is in Japan on a four-day visit, has previously made similar comments comparing China’s actions with those of the Third Reich.
“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 [the second world war],” he told The New York Times last year. That provoked fury in Beijing, which labelled the Philippine president ”amateurish”, “ignorant” and “lame”.
China has rejected US demands to stop all reclamation works in the South China Sea, saying it was exercising its sovereignty and using the outposts to fulfil international responsibilities.
Beijing insists it has sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, a major global shipping route believed to be home to oil and gas reserves, but rival claimants accuse it of expansionism.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have varied claims over islets and reefs in the area.
Despite its relatively weak economy and the parlous state of its military, the Philippines has been the most vocal country in the region in its criticism of China. The Association for Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a 10-strong regional bloc, has struggled to come to a consensus, with China exploiting divisions and exercising its economic might.
Washington and its Asian allies, including Tokyo, which has a separate territorial disputes with Beijing in the East China Sea, has warned that ignoring international laws could threaten “the freedom of navigation”.
Aquino is not the first global leader to make comparisons between East Asia’s present situation and global conflicts of last century.
Early last year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe caused controversy by appearing to suggest Tokyo and Beijing were analogous to Britain and Germany on the eve of the second world war. The Japanese government later played down the comments, which were widely reported, blaming a translator.
