FOCUS | China may be fanning flames of Taiwanese anger with PH - expert

From InterAksyon (May 23): FOCUS | China may be fanning flames of Taiwanese anger with PH - expert

Since the shooting of a Taiwanese boat that killed a 65-year-old fisherman off Batanes on May 9, there has been no confirmed incident of violence against Filipinos in Taiwan that is clearly linked to it, boosting the possibility—as raised by an expert-- that Beijing may be fanning the heat as a test case while it continues its bullying in the South China Sea.

The most cited incident—of two Filipino workers hit by baseball bats—were later shown to be the handiwork of notorious bike-riding gangs that had long been harassing foreign workers.

And on Wednesday, news wire agencies reported two cases of hoaxes perpetrated by, one, a journalist; and another by a woman who claimed a Taiwanese diner refuse to serve food to a Filipino.

At the height of reports from Taiwan media (cited and echoed by some media outfits in the Philippines) that Filipinos were being beaten up on the streets, or being harassed in their dormitories, or being turned away by grocery owners as they try to buy food, Philippine officials in Taiwan have been trying to calm people down.

In his Facebook account, http://www.facebook.com/rconferido?fref=ts, Philippine labor attache to Taiwan Rey Conferido warned against spreading unverified reports, in Filipino, translated here as: “Our constant reminder is if you have personal knowledge of violence inflicted on our countryman here in Taiwan, immediately report to +886-932-218-057 or +886-910-104-009. Don’t spread the report if the information has not been verified because this will bring fear and panic and possibly more violence!!!”
"We verify all your reports and if there is basis for these reports, we ask for police visibility patrol to discourage those with ill intentions,” he said in another post.

"Old stories are being re-hashed,” he told his “friends” on Facebook, mostly members of the Filipino community in Taipei and Kaohsiung, including migrant rights advocates, who told InterAksyon.com the same thing: “The beatings are happening only on TV.”

As some Taiwan media outlets replay videos of supposed beatings of Filipinos, Conferido ordered his staff to go where these alleged incidents took place and investigate on the ground.

War of perceptions

At the same time, he went on social media to fight the war of perceptions.

"Not all Taiwanese are bad or angry at innocent Filipinos, so don’t be paranoid,” he said in one Facebook post. “Taiwanese are human beings like us – there are (some who are) fair-minded and there are ideologues,” he said in another.

"We cannot stop racism by responding like the racists. The fair-minded Taiwanese are just being intimidated by the current tsunami of media bullying. We cannot reverse the dominance of this madness by going along its drift,” the labor attache said in another.
Conferido also posted running reports of these media accounts: one on a Filipino attacked by a motorcycle-riding Taiwanese happened nine months ago in Indonesia (!), another supposed attack by Taiwanese nationals was actually a run-in between three Filipinos and a Vietnamese, and on the infamous beating with a baseball bat in Kaohsiung is actually an old encounter not with a baseball bat but with a wooden stick.

"Wala pong napapalo ng baseball bat. Kahapon pa po yung balita na pinalo ng tila kahoy at ang interview nung biktima ay pinost ng MECO Kaohsiung sa YouTube para sa kabatiran ng lahat. Maayos na yung biktima at hindi naman malala (No one has been hit by a baseball bat. The person involved in the news yesterday about being hit by a wooden stick has been interviewed by MECO and the interview has been posted on YouTube for all to see. The victim is OK and not in serious condition),” the labor attache said in his Facebook post.

And even before a Taiwan official held a press conference here in Manila to explain the story of that same incident, http://www.interaksyon.com/article/62189/filipino-beaten-up-in-taiwan-gets-p164000-from-gangsters-as-pinoys-safety-assured, Conferido was already saying in his Facebook, “By the way, sang-ayon po mismo sa fisherman na nabiktima, ang gumawa po ay iyong usual gang ng mga bata na naka motor bike na dati nang gumagawa ng ganoon, at mukhang walang kinalaman sa isyung pangkasalukuyan (according to the fisherman-victim, the perpetrators were the usual gang of kids on motor bikes who have done the same thing before, and unrelated to the current issue).”

Cases unrelated to Taiwan fisherman shot dead

Conferido noted that the abuse of Filipino workers by some Taiwan employees is a recurring issue that is not related to the shooting incident in Batanes waters that killed a Taiwanese fisherman.

"Every day some Filipino workers get abused here in Taiwan. I know it personally because I receive their calls for help. Many other Taiwanese get involved in all kinds of crimes in the Philippines, including the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs that slowly but cruelly destroy countless lives and the electronic defrauding of hard-earned money even of their own fellow Taiwanese,” he said in a Facebook post.

"But we don't blame all the Taiwanese for their offenses. We recognize that some Taiwanese, especially the Tzuchi Foundation, have done a lot of good for many Filipinos and we appreciate them and will never forget them. We also do not ask the Taiwanese to disregard the terrible harm done against their fellow citizen. Those who did this grave offense must face justice. But should not anyone accused have a day in court just because we are angry and a foreign government is putting pressure? When we do good things, do we do them because we believe they are the right thing to do or do we regard them as investment for which we must be able to collect someday?” he added.

In any case, Conferido called on Taiwan authorities to increase visibility in areas where Filipinos felt threatened and where more violence could erupt.

China hand?

Philippine labor and diplomatic officials have been given strict instructions not to talk to the media about the Taiwan mess: first, because the incident off Batanes waters is still under investigation; and second, as the issue has implications not only on Philippines-Taiwan relations, but in the entire West Philippine Sea.

What is China’s role in this mess?

For one, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou is known to be pro-China. And he has a below-20 percent popularity rating among his people. He needs a strong stance around which he wants to rally his people.

A Manila-based Filipino diplomat believes that China may have a hand fanning the weak flames against the Philippines in Taiwan. He said China – using pro-China elements in Taiwan media – wants to provoke people-to-people fights in Taiwan to see what the Philippines might do. He said the Batanes shooting may be a test case for the bigger territorial dispute that the Philippines has with China.

In one Chinese news website, http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/782409.shtml#.UZgrrCspYSi, a Chinese general has called the shooting incident “Manila’s provocations.”

The editorial called on “Chinese society (to) stay united in the South China Sea disputes, rather than making different calculations in front of the provocative Philippines.”

It proposed that mainland Chinese also suspend tourist trips to the Philippines and slow down imports from the Philippines.

"We call on people in Hong Kong and Macao to join this joint action against the Philippines. This will make a special contribution to both protection of sovereignty and social solidarity among the Chinese people,” the Chinese news website said.

Calling for unity among all Chinese people, the website added: “The latest crisis may last a while, during which Manila will probably seek a chance to drive a wedge between the two sides across the Straits. But on the other hand, it could also become a period in which the Chinese people clearly feel each other's support…The whole of Chinese society must stand together to guarantee its victory.”

Now that we know what this is all about, the question is: How do we respond?

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/62366/focus--china-may-be-fanning-flames-of-taiwanese-anger-with-ph---expert