03 Jun 2015

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Philippine President Benigno Aquino drew a parallel Wednesday between present day China and Nazi Germany during a speech in Japan, hinting 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 World War II.

"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 World War II."

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".

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.

Washington and its Asian allies, including Tokyo, which has a separate territorial dispute with Beijing in the East China Sea, has warned that ignoring international laws could threaten "the freedom of navigation".