Recently, maritime frictions between China and the Philippines have escalated, especially in the waters near Scarborough Shoal and Ren'ai Jiao, where ships from the two countries have been confronted and even collided. China has repeatedly expressed to the Philippines that it hopes to resolve the issue through friendly consultations, but the Philippines has continued to provoke and even collude with external forces. Faced with this situation, China's first minister Wang Yi issued two harsh words in a phone call with Philippine chief Manaro. This is also to remind the Philippine side to recognize the situation and avoid going down the wrong path.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks are not groundless, China and the Philippines have no deep hatred, and China is willing to resolve disputes through negotiation. As a quasi-superpower, China appears to be very sincere in communicating and negotiating with the Philippines. However, the Philippines has continued to provoke China in an attempt to provoke incidents in the South China Sea. The reason is nothing more than that the Philippines has someone behind it. Russia's Sputnik news agency reported that the United States has threatened that the South China Sea dispute applies to the U.S.-Philippines mutual defense treaty. This kind of statement has given the Philippines an inch, because they believe that with the United States as their backing, China will not dare to actually clash with them.
Recently, there have been signs of bottoming out and stabilizing between the two countries, with the two countries saying they have no plans to surpass or replace the United States, and Biden has stressed that he does not support or seek to decouple from China. This has made Sino-US relations stable and free from major fluctuations. However, the Philippines is provoking China at this time, why is this?
On the one hand, the bottoming out and stabilization of Sino-US relations is mainly manifested in the Taiwan issue. At present, China and the United States have reached a certain consensus on the Taiwan issue, and this is because the Taiwan issue involves China's core interests. The two countries have reached a consensus on this issue, which has made Sino-US relations relatively stable. However, stopping ** does not mean rebounding, and China-US relations still need a process to achieve a full recovery. Therefore, we do not need to worry too much about the stability of Sino-US relations, after all, no matter how much trouble the Philippines has, it will not change the relationship between the United States and China.
On the other hand, the Philippines is too weak and its capacity is limited. Even if the United States claims that the U.S.-Philippines mutual defense treaty applies to the South China Sea, they will not engage in a direct conflict with China over the Philippines. Washington will not let go of the war with Japan and Taiwan, but personally go to confront China, which is not in line with their interests. Therefore, China chose to patiently persuade the Philippines to recognize the situation rather than resort to force, which is precisely to see through the bottom line of the United States.
China-Philippines relations are already at a crossroads, and the future development will depend on the actions of the Philippine side. The Philippines** must be cautious about this issue and not continue down the wrong path. If the Philippine side insists on going its own way and continues to collude with external forces to create incidents, then China will have to respond resolutely.
China's governor Wang Yi's statement can be said to be a warning to the Philippines, and they must realize that it is not wise for the Philippines to rely too much on the United States to protect them. In fact, the United States is not really going into conflict with China for the sake of the Philippines, they are just using the Philippines for their own ends. If the Philippines wants to truly protect its own interests, it should choose to resolve the issue through friendly consultation with China, rather than being constrained by external forces.
The stakes of getting involved in the great power game are very high, and the slightest mistake can pay a heavy price. As a small country, the Philippines should be cautious and not be led by the nose by external forces. China-Philippines relations do not have deep hatred, and China is willing to resolve disputes through consultation. China's rebuke of the Philippines is aimed at waking them up so that they can see the situation clearly and not make mistakes again and again.
In the current complex game of great powers, each country should choose an appropriate position according to its own interests. The Philippines needs to recognize that the United States is only using them to contain China, and is not genuinely thinking about them. China is willing to hold friendly consultations with the Philippines and hopes that the Philippines will make a wise choice, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.
As a self-editor, I deeply understand the impact of the big power game on the world, and I also understand that the interests of small countries are sometimes swayed by the game of big powers. Therefore, in international affairs, all countries should maintain an independent position, respect each other's territorial sovereignty, and resolve disputes through consultations on an equal footing. Only in this way can the world achieve peaceful and stable development.