BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and the United States collude to provoke in the South China Sea and jeopardize regional peace and stability.
Xinhua News Agency reporter.
Recently, the Philippines has repeatedly caused trouble in the South China Sea, constantly violating rights and provocations in the waters of Ren'ai Jiao in China's Nansha Islands, and continuing to spread disinformation, hype and smear China. The United States not only instigated, supported, and cooperated with the Philippine side in response to its provocative acts, but also reversed right and wrong and made wanton accusations against China.
Analysts point out that China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, including Ren'ai Jiao, and the waters around it. The Philippines and the United States have their own plans for collusion, with the Philippines vainly trying to seek personal interests in the South China Sea with the support of the United States, while the United States is attempting to undermine China's relations with regional countries by hyping up the South China Sea issue in order to achieve its geopolitical goal of encircling and containing China. The provocative moves of the Philippines and the United States have ill-intentioned intentions and have caused serious harm to regional peace, stability, prosperity and development.
This is a H-6K fighter cruising over Scarborough Shoal (data**) Xinhua News Agency.
The Philippines has frequently provoked.
On December 10, a Philippine supply ship, an official ship and two coast guard ships intruded into the waters adjacent to Ren'ai Jiao in China's Nansha Islands without the permission of China, in an attempt to transport construction materials to the illegal "beaching" of Ren'ai Jiao. During this period, the Philippine vessel ignored the warnings of the Chinese coast guard vessel, insisted on rushing into the lagoon of Ren'ai Jiao, and rammed the Chinese coast guard vessel at the scene in a dangerous manner. The above-mentioned actions of the Philippine side seriously violated China's sovereignty and endangered the safety of Chinese vessels and personnel, and the China Coast Guard took necessary measures against Philippine vessels in accordance with domestic and international laws.
Since the second half of this year, the Philippines has repeatedly provoked incidents in the South China Sea and violated China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. On August 5, the Philippines sent two vessels into the waters of Second Thomas Shoal without authorization, despite China's repeated dissuasions and warnings. On September 22, an official vessel of the Philippine Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (AFR) entered the waters near Scarborough Shoal without the permission of the Chinese side and attempted to break into the lagoon of Scarborough Shoal. On October 22, two Philippine civilian ships and two coast guard vessels trespassed into the waters adjacent to Ren'ai Jiao without the permission of China. On November 10, two Philippine supply vessels and three coast guard vessels trespassed into the waters adjacent to Second Thomas Shoal without authorization. On December 9, three Philippine official vessels intruded into the waters near Scarborough Shoal without China's permission.
In the above-mentioned infringement and provocation activities, Ren'ai Jiao is the main target of the Philippine side. Analysts believe that an important reason for the Philippines' frequent provocations at Ren'ai Jiao is that it is worried that it will eventually disintegrate after deliberately "running aground" and "beaching" in 1999, thus losing its grip on seizing Ren'ai Jiao.
The Philippine side is solely responsible for the recent emergencies in the waters of Ren'ai Jiao, which is fundamentally rooted in the fact that the Philippine side has violated its commitments, refused to tow away the illegal "beaching"**, and attempted to carry out large-scale reinforcement of the illegal "beaching"** to achieve permanent occupation. In response to the Philippine provocation, the China Coast Guard has taken countermeasures in accordance with the law, firmly upheld territorial sovereignty, and handled the situation in a proper, legal, professional and standardized manner. China has made clear its solemn position to the Philippine side at multiple levels and through multiple channels, and put forward an initiative to properly manage the situation at Second Thomas Shoal.
On September 20, 2013, in Cavite Province, the Philippines, a U.S. military CH-53E military aircraft carrying American and Filipino soldiers participated in a Xi. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Umali).
However, the Philippine side ignored China's goodwill, sincerity and restraint, violated its own commitments, continued to infringe on its rights and provoked incidents in the waters off Ren'ai Jiao, continued to spread disinformation and hype, and tried to portray the abusive and provocative Philippine vessels as so-called "victims". The United States "Time" magazine and many other ** reports mentioned that in recent years, the Philippines has invited a large number of domestic and foreign reporters to board Philippine ships and go to the South China Sea to "shoot" pictures of close contact between Chinese and Philippine ships, in an attempt to use ** to exert pressure on China.
Analysts pointed out that the Philippine move seriously violates international law and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and seriously infringes on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and should immediately stop such acts that undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea.
The United States has encouraged support and cooperation.
Behind the Philippines' abusive provocations is the support of foreign forces, the most important of which is the United States. In response to the incidents that occurred in the waters near Scarborough Shoal on the 9th of this month and in the waters near Ren'ai Jiao on the 10th, US spokesman Matthew Miller issued a statement on the 10th accusing Chinese ships of "dangerous and illegal" actions against Philippine ships, claiming that the United States stands with the Philippines and emphasizing that the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty applies to attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in any area of the South China Sea.
This is not the first time that the US has stood up for the Philippines' infringement and provocation. The US has repeatedly issued statements criticizing China after the Philippine provocations were dealt with on the spot, and has also threatened China with the fulfillment of the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.
Rigoberto Tigrau, who was the former spokesman for Arroyo in the Philippines, said in an article in the Manila Times on the 15th that the current irrational behavior of the Philippines has a lot to do with the agitation of the United States. The United States is trying to portray China as a "threat to neighboring countries such as the Philippines", and "the United States has given us ** too easily".
On April 11, 2023, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines, people participated in a rally, and the Philippines and the United States held a joint military Xi. On the same day, the Philippines and the United States launched an 18-day "shoulder to shoulder" joint military exercise in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, Xi 2023. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Umali).
It has long been known that the United States has used the South China Sea issue to sow discord between regional countries and China to serve its geopolitical strategy. During the administration of Benigno Aquino III, the United States manipulated the South China Sea arbitration case behind the scenes, providing a so-called "legal basis" for the Philippines' sovereignty claim. After the incumbent Ferdinand Marcos took office, the United States has tried its best to win over the two countries, strengthen security cooperation between the two countries, and expand the scale and scope of joint military exercises. The United States and its allies have also stepped up military deployments around the South China Sea and held military exercises on several occasions to send the wrong signal to the Philippines with so-called "security commitments."
Analysts have pointed out that the United States, based on its own geopolitical selfish interests, has continuously instigated, supported and cooperated with the Philippines' maritime infringement and provocations, which is a blatant support for the Philippines' violation of China's sovereignty, a serious violation of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and a serious endangerment to regional peace and stability.
Anna Marimborg-Uy, deputy director of the Philippine "Asian Century" Institute for Strategic Studies, pointed out that the United States is an uninvited third party that uses the Philippines as a leader to maintain US hegemony under the pretext of the so-called "rules-based international order" and "freedom of navigation." "This shows that the United States is quite hypocritical. ”
undermining regional peace and stability.
Analysts believe that the Asia-Pacific region is the most dynamic zone of the global economy, and maintaining the stability and prosperity of this region is not only in the interests of regional countries, but also conducive to global economic development. Today, the Philippines has deliberately provoked and hyped up, and the United States and other countries outside the region have instigated and fanned the flames, and the collusion between the two has continuously led to escalation and seriously threatened regional peace and stability.
Tigrao called on Marcos to change his dangerous foreign policy. "Not only was this the biggest mistake of his tenure, it was also the most devastating policy in the history of our country, hindering our growth and even exacerbating poverty. ”
If tensions in the South China Sea escalate further, it could trigger regional conflicts, damage the marine environment and affect the marine economy, Marimborg-Uy said. The South China Sea is an important maritime transport corridor in the world, and rising security risks may disrupt shipping, increase shipping costs, and affect the global ** chain.
On October 31, 2017, the China-ASEAN countries held a joint maritime search and rescue exercise in the waters of Zhanjiang, Guangdong. The exercise is a practical maritime cooperation project for all parties to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Mao Xin.
China is an important littoral state in the South China Sea and has the responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. Over the years, China has unswervingly followed the path of peaceful development and has been committed to resolving the South China Sea issue through dialogue and negotiation. In 2002, China and ASEAN countries negotiated the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. The Declaration is the first political document signed between China and ASEAN countries on the South China Sea issue, and is a vivid portrayal of China's good-neighborliness and friendship and win-win cooperation. In recent years, China and ASEAN countries have actively promoted consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and made continuous progress in phases, providing institutional guarantees for building the South China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.
Zhang Jie, director of the Asia-Pacific Security and Diplomacy Research Office of the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that China and most ASEAN countries believe that the South China Sea issue is not the whole of China-ASEAN relations, and that all parties should reach "guidelines" at an early date to lower the "temperature" of the situation in the South China Sea by managing differences and carrying out relevant cooperation in the South China Sea, so that China and ASEAN countries can carry out more in-depth cooperation in a wider range of fields. However, the Philippines' recent violations and provocations are obviously not conducive to the early conclusion of the Code and are inconsistent with the aspirations of regional countries.
As an article by RIA Novosti puts it, "what the United States is doing to Europe – pushing it to the 'Ukrainian front' and thus undermining the European economy – will not work in Asia". (Participating reporters: Liu Zan, Deng Xianlai, Liu Kai, Zhang Yisheng, Yan Jie).