Amado “Bong” Mendoza is a faculty member of the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines (Diliman) and is primarily interested in Philippine politics and political economy. He used to write for Business Day covering the finance beat and the online edition of Inquirer. He now writes regularly for InterAksyon.com.
Unfortunately for assertive rising powers like China, might is not always right.
If too much pressure is applied on smaller powers, defiance rather than acquiescence may result. And these smaller powers may find succor in international courts and with favorable global opinion.
Recently, China got into a nasty scrap with Vietnam as it move a billion-dollar rig into disputed waters off Vietnam’s coast in late May 2014. Later, a Chinese vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat about 17 nautical miles southwest of the oil rig, the state-run Vietnamese television network, VTV1, reported. All 10 crew members were rescued according to the network.