NewsfeaturesExiled Philippine communist leader Sison blasts ‘greedy’ China over...

Exiled Philippine communist leader Sison blasts ‘greedy’ China over sea dispute

-

Raissa Robles
Utrecht, Netherlands
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 23 July, 2015, 8:59am
UPDATED : Thursday, 23 July, 2015, 12:23pm
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1842975/exiled-philippine-communist-leader-sison-blasts-greedy

Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison has turned on his former benefactor, China, amid the South China Sea territorial dispute between Beijing and Manila.

“China is obviously being greedy, claiming 90 per cent of the South China Sea,” Sison told the South China Morning Post in his office in Utrecht, the Netherlands, 43 years after his fledgling rebellion was secretly sent weapons and cash by China’s late leader, Mao Zedong.

Jose Maria Sison has lambasted "the fake, the phony communists in China now". Photo: Reuters
Jose Maria Sison has lambasted “the fake, the phony communists in China now”. Photo: Reuters

Sison called China’s territorial claims “foolish” and “false” and added that “it would be like India claiming the whole of the Indian Ocean or Mexico claiming all or most of the Gulf of Mexico.”

Sison denied this was a major change in the party’s attitude towards the dispute. “The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has been consistent in asserting national independence and maintaining the territorial integrity and even when there is a coincidence with regard to the national government on territory, the CPP does not mind having the same position as the national government,” he said

“Because if you don’t defend the territory, nothing might be left if you neglect it.”

When Sison broke away from the old Philippine communist party to form his own, his new group – the CPP and its armed wing the New People’s Army (NPA) – adopted Mao’s protracted people’s war.

Despite the fact that Mao established diplomatic relations with dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who had Sison arrested, tortured and tried for rebellion, Sison continues to follow the Maoist doctrine. In fact, he criticises the present Chinese leadership for veering away from Mao’s vision.

“I think the Philippine communist party is more loyal to Mao than the pseudo communists, the fake, the phony communists in China now,” Sison said.

He traced the latter’s abandonment of “real communism” to “the counter-revolution of Deng Xiaoping [which] was quite successful. There was a coup in 1976 and by 1978 the transformation of China into a capitalist society went in earnest. And what you have [today] is a capitalist country.”

When asked whether he could achieve victory in his lifetime, Sison, now 76 and living exile in Utrecht, said: “Maybe you know, I could have died as soon as the party launched the armed struggle [in 1969]. The communist spirit is to ‘do what you can, do your best while you can’.”

His group has had setbacks lately. The central party chairman Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma Austria, the party secretary-general, were arrested a year ago. Last month, soldiers killed veteran NPA commander Leoncio Pitao.

Now Sison is offering President Benigno Aquino a truce and peace talks which he hopes would include the release of the Tiamzon couple so they can take part in the peace process.

“The special envoy of the Norwegian government has been kind enough to propose the procedure for making sure that the agreements are made,” Sison said.

He expressed confidence that a truce could be put in place before the year’s end, followed by an agreement on social and political reforms.

“Aquino may want to leave a good legacy [and] I would be happy to strike an agreement to make peace,” he said.

“The agreements can be so worded that only the most reactionary and the most subservient to the narrowest interest of foreign and feudal domination would be against it,” he said.

In an interview with the Post in April, Aquino said of the peace process: “We were exploring that special track that was proposed by Jose Maria Sison. They left the negotiations – the informal track and the formal track. Now, they say they are ready for it again. I think they have to demonstrate sincerity first.”

When pressed whether there was a chance for negotiations to resume, Aquino replied: “I’m having a briefing on that this afternoon.”

Latest news

Resolution of the Second Congress of the Communist Party of the Philippines, November 7, 2016

Ka Joma is a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist extraordinaire and indefatigable revolutionary fighter

JUST IN | Mga larawan sa huling pamamaalam Kay CPP-NPA founder Jose Maria ‘Joma’ Sison

Natapos na ang seremonya sa huling pamamaalam kay Joma Sison pasado alas dose ng tanghali, December 27

Pamilya at mga kaibigan nagbigay-pugay sa huling paalam kay CPP Founder Joma Sison | TFC News

EXCLUSIVE: Na-cremate na ang labi ni Communist Party of the Philippines Founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison. Bago ito, binigyan siya ng pagkilala ng mga mahal sa buhay at mahal sa buhay. Nagpapatrol, Jofelle Tesorio. #TFCNews

Ka Joma: A hero of the Filipino people is cremated in an emotion-filled but revolutionary farewell ceremony

The two-hour farewell ceremony held at the auditorium of the Crematorium Daelwijck in this city which began at 1030am (CET) was packed with family members, comrades, representatives of political parties and organizations, progressive alliances and groups, his former staff members, friends and admirers, and was filled with songs and poetry.

LIVE: ‘Tanglaw at gabay, hanggang tagumpay’

Progressive groups and individuals gather at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City to pay their respects to Prof. Jose Maria 'Joma' Sison, who recently passed last December 16, 2022

LIVE: ‘Tanglaw at gabay, hanggang tagumpay’

Progressive groups and individuals gather at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City to pay their respects to Prof. Jose Maria 'Joma' Sison, who recently passed last December 16, 2022.

Must read

Resolution of the Second Congress of the Communist Party of the Philippines, November 7, 2016

Ka Joma is a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist extraordinaire and indefatigable revolutionary fighter

JUST IN | Mga larawan sa huling pamamaalam Kay CPP-NPA founder Jose Maria ‘Joma’ Sison

Natapos na ang seremonya sa huling pamamaalam kay Joma Sison pasado alas dose ng tanghali, December 27

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you