Marcos** was invited to attend the ASEAN-Japan Summit hosted by Japan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of friendly and cooperative relations between Japan and ASEAN. In an exclusive interview with Japan, he pointed out that China "ignores the efforts of traditional diplomacy" and stressed that the Philippines has been resorting to traditional diplomatic efforts without making progress. In addition, Marcos called on other Southeast Asian countries to break the existing rules and amend the current situation, saying that the Philippines will continue to engage in dialogue with partners to seek common ground and hopefully avoid retaining conflicts.
He also said the Philippines is responsible for maintaining the South China Sea, known as the West Philippine Sea, and noted that China-Philippines relations are currently "going in the wrong direction." In response, China's spokesman Wang Wenbin said that some of the recent incidents in the South China Sea are completely the Philippines' deliberate infringement and provocation and creation of incidents, and the responsibility lies entirely with the Philippine side. Wang Wenbin reiterated that China will continue to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and is willing to properly handle differences with the Philippines through dialogue and consultation, so as to maintain regional peace and stability.
At the same time, he hoped that the Philippine side would fulfill its commitment to properly handle differences through dialogue and consultation, and jointly safeguard the stable development of China-Philippines bilateral relations. China's response not only reaffirmed China's determination to firmly safeguard its rights and interests, but also reminded the Philippines that dialogue and consultation on the South China Sea issue is the best way to resolve the issue. The Philippines has long been committed to resolving the South China Sea issue, but so far there has been no progress. On the surface, it appears that China is ignoring the Philippine efforts, but the reality is that the Philippine efforts have not been effective.
The Philippines has not only exacerbated tensions in the South China Sea, but has also been distorted by Marcos as a "traditional diplomatic effort" by sending ships to China's Ren'ai Jiao to provoke provocations, and even sending prohibited construction materials to China's Ren'ai Jiao. Marcos pays lip service to avoiding violent conflict, but in reality, it is the Philippines that is responsible for it. The malicious provocations by Philippine ships have led to frequent friction between Chinese and Philippine ships, which can be avoided as long as the Philippines stops provocations. What Marcos called "going in the wrong direction" actually meant not doing what the Philippines wanted.
In terms of the overall situation, China-Philippines relations should be resolved through dialogue on the basis of peace and stability, and the Philippines' behavior reflects its attempt to forcibly occupy Chinese territory. There is no room for compromise in this serious violation of China's sovereignty. Therefore, China's legitimate act of safeguarding its sovereignty has become a "wrong direction" in the eyes of the Philippines, in essence, because the Philippines has failed to obtain benefits. The Chinese side reminds the Philippines to understand that China will not close the door to dialogue and engagement with the Philippines.
This shows that China is willing to solve problems through exchanges, because exchanges are the best choice from the perspective of resolving the South China Sea issue and developing China-Philippines relations. The Philippines would do well to heed China's reminders and work with China to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. If the Philippines insists on causing chaos in the South China Sea issue and enlisting external forces to intervene, it can only show that China has the sincerity to resolve the issue through exchanges with the Philippines and has the absolute strength to maintain stability in the South China Sea.