An article in The Manila Times, written by former Filipino** spokesperson Rigovat Tigrau, has garnered a lot of attention. In this article, Tigrao urges the Philippines to avoid letting irrationality and ignorance dictate its China policy. Against the backdrop of the current tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, Tigrau's statement is of great significance to the Philippines. It is particularly noteworthy that in his article he touched on three sensitive issues. First, the article touches on the misalignment between the Philippines and Vietnam in their relations with China.
Although both the Philippines and Vietnam have disputes with China in the South China Sea, Vietnam is actively moving closer to China and signing more ** agreements, while the Philippines is "demonizing China", which is one of the mistakes of Philippine foreign policy. This is not only a difference in foreign policy between the Philippines and Vietnam, but more importantly, it hints at the fact that the Philippines is diplomatically at odds with the rest of ASEAN and is gradually falling into isolation. The rest of ASEAN is reluctant to see the United States use the Philippines to create chaos in the South China Sea, thereby harming the overall relationship between China and Southeast Asian countries. The Philippines' insistence on provocations in the South China Sea has undermined relations not only with China, but also with the rest of ASEAN.
Secondly, a rather important topic is mentioned in the article, namely economic issues. The development of the Philippines really depends on the normal ** between China and the Philippines. However, due to sea conditions and climate, Philippine fishing vessels are unable to get close to the South China Sea region. In the first nine months of this year, Chinese investment in Vietnam reached $2.9 billion, compared with only $12 million in the Philippines during the same period. China is the largest direct investor in the Philippines and Southeast Asian countries, and the loss of Chinese investment would be a significant loss for the Philippine economy. Therefore, the Philippines' current provocations in the South China Sea are also more than worth the losses for the economy. Finally, the article also mentions some undue accusations against China.
It is unacceptable that the Philippines and the military insist on provocations to undermine peace in the South China Sea. Therefore, Rigovat Tigrau called on the Philippines to avoid allowing irrationality and ignorance to dominate its China policy, especially in the current situation of tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. The Philippines' problems in the South China Sea are not only about fishing, but also about the discovery of large oil and gas resources in disputed waters, which has been hyped up by the West. From an objective point of view, the Philippines has financial and technological shortcomings, and even if there may be the possibility of oil exploration in the disputed area, it needs to rely on the technology and capital of other countries. In the context of the dispute between China and the Philippines, as long as China does not agree, the national capital that exploits oil and gas in the disputed area will not dare to invest in the Philippines easily.
This can be seen in the example of Vietnam's illegal oil extraction in the South China Sea. In the past, Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and even the United States for oil piracy in the South China Sea, but now this behavior is gradually decreasing. Why?Because it's not cost-effective. Vietnam itself lacks the technology and capital to extract oil at sea, and they need to rely on American, European and even Russian capital, but the capital of these countries is reluctant to risk offending China to help Vietnam when China regulates the disputed area. In addition, the benefits brought by the normal ** of China and Vietnam are far greater than the profits from illegal oil extraction, so Vietnam naturally gave up this behavior.
The same is true for the Philippines, whether it is the issue of fishing or the issue of oil and gas resources in disputed areas, and now the United States is fooling the Philippines to gain benefits in disputed areas, which is completely groundless. In the end, the Philippines will not benefit, but will lose normal with China, which will be fatal to the Philippine economy. "The Philippines has a well-established academic and intellectual ranks, but it is far from the truth that the United States minions portray China as an 'enemy,'" said Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Romeo Brawner. "The reality that China and Vietnam are properly resolving disputes in the South China Sea and strengthening communication is a perfect example.
However, at present, the Philippines is ignoring its door and allowing the military and even the United States to manipulate and dominate the diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines, which is obviously an unhealthy political and ecological situation. It is precisely this erroneous ecology that has led to the Philippine people being drawn into the South China Sea dispute by the military and some ** forces, which is worthy of vigilance. The Philippines should make a major adjustment to its foreign policy to correct its consistently destructive policies, promote national development and reduce poverty, the proposal said. Although China has legally supervised the incursion of Philippine vessels into Ren'ai Jiao, the current tensions between China and the Philippines make the domestic situation precarious. Marcos does not intend to change his foreign policy at this time out of consideration for pandering to the elite and deflecting domestic contradictions.
In talks with the Japanese prime minister, Marcos hyped up the so-called "China threat theory" in order to attract foreign forces to intervene in the South China Sea and jointly confront China. Such a strategy would not only do nothing to benefit the Philippines' development, but would also exacerbate international tensions. Marcos has a clear understanding of the problem of energy exploration in the South China Sea, but he has the ambition of "wanting everything". If it continues to act as a pawn for the United States and Japan to sow chaos in the South China Sea, the Philippines will end up with nothing. Therefore, it is necessary for the Philippines to re-examine its foreign policy in order to promote the long-term development of the country and maintain good relations with neighboring countries.