IN a rare meeting with American business leaders in San Francisco, following a still rarer summit meeting with US President Joe Biden in Woodside, California, Chinese President Xi Jinping last week said China does not seek a sphere of influence and will not fight a cold or hot war with any country. For its “rejuvenation,” China would rather pursue a peaceful and stable international order, he said.

It is an admirable position to take, given our extremely troubled world. But can it be done, given the existing rivalries and conflicting interests? China is an emerging global power, with inherent duties and responsibilities. From the very beginning, it has been portrayed by the West as an emerging power determined to replace the preeminent power, the US. How can it possibly commit not to engage in any hot or cold war with any state unless it renounces its right to pursue its own legitimate objectives?

The last Cold War featured China and the Soviet Union against the US and the West. But China drifted on its own after the historic Sino-Soviet split. When the Cold War ended in 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated, and China adopted free market economic reform to become the fastestgrowing market economy in the world. As the second largest world economy after the US, China can afford not to get involved in any hot or cold war if it so desires. But is that what the largest communist country in the world desires?

A new Cold War has begun, and this is acknowledged by such reputable authorities as the 100-year-old Henry Kissinger and Niall Ferguson, the renowned Oxford historian, among others. Ferguson considers the Russian invasion of Ukraine the first hot war of the new Cold War; perhaps the Israeli-Hamas conflict is the second. China is part of this new cold war, although not involved in Ukraine or the Gaza Strip. But can it forever avoid getting involved in these hot wars?

In saying China will not fight any hot or cold war against any country, perhaps China is telling the US, which has a superabundant record of illegal invasions and wars, that war can be avoided, even if the enemy has no way of standing against the invader. Indeed, if China believes it can avoid getting embroiled in any hot or cold war with any country, perhaps it can demonstrate its restraint in other things.

We can put this to the test when dealing with our problems in the West Philippine Sea. These include illegal Chinese reclamation and militarization of artificial islands and illegal Chinese conduct against the Philippine Coast Guard and its personnel in the Spratlys.

In 1999, the Philippine Navy grounded the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusty Philippine vessel, on Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), to serve as the home base of a Philippine military contingent consisting of several marines.

The contingent has to be resupplied periodically from outside, but on several occasions, the Chinese coast guard, supported by vessels of the Chinese maritime militia, tried to prevent the supply mission from reaching its destination.

On one occasion, the Chinese coast guard used military-grade laser on the supply boat; on another, it used a water cannon to prevent the food supplies from reaching the outpost. On both occasions, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested the incidents, but with no appreciable effect. The number of diplomatic protests filed by the Marcos government over similar incidents now numbers close to a hundred. In its latest diplomatic note to the Chinese Embassy, the DFA called on China to cease all illegal reclamation activities forthwith and remove all illegal structures it had constructed in the Spratlys.

DFA spokesman Ma. Teresita Daza said China is accountable to the Philippine government for the damage caused by its illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea. She was referring to illegal fortifications on Mischief Reef, Cuarteron Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, Gaven Reefs, Hughes Reef, Johnson Reef, and Zamora or Subi Reef.

Daza recalled that in 1995, China illegally occupied Mischief Reef, a low-tide elevation that forms part of the Philippine continental shelf and lies within the Philippine EEZ. When the Philippines protested, China replied it merely constructed a fisherman’s shelter on the reef and that it would remain as such. The reef is now a militarized artificial island in China’s hands.

Having heard President Xi say that China will not fight any hot or cold war against any country, can we now ask whether the president is prepared to extend this declared policy to peace-loving neighbors in the area by assuring the Philippines it will stop harassing its coast guard vessels and personnel on a simple resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre in the West Philippine Sea?