Recently, the Philippines has taken extreme actions in the South China Sea, prompting resolute enforcement by the China Coast Guard. Subsequently, the Philippines reversed black and white through diplomatic means to smear China's image, and received the support of the United States and the United Kingdom, while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tried to win over ASEAN countries to adopt a unified stance on China. In addition to the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom, the European Union's External Action Service (EEAS) has issued a puzzling statement on the South China Sea, expressing concern about China's law enforcement actions. This fearful statement is absurd in the face of the facts, because the Philippines is a provocative party and seriously violates China's sovereignty, and the China Coast Guard's law enforcement actions are completely legal. The EU has chosen to express concern about China, and this distorted logic is incomprehensible.
With the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom already expressing support for the Philippines, the European Union's External Action Service issued a statement on the South China Sea issue on behalf of the 27 EU countries, giving the Philippines the support of as many as 30 countries. This undoubtedly makes the situation in the South China Sea more dangerous. Considering that the United States and the West are facing two conflicts, Russia, Ukraine and Palestine-Israel, and the South China Sea is far away from them, why do these countries support the Philippines so actively?Perhaps they have a deeper plan to try to confuse the public in the South China Sea and take advantage of the opportunity to intervene. At this critical juncture, stability in the South China Sea is particularly important to prevent external forces from taking advantage of the opportunity to infiltrate.
However, the Philippines seems to lack a clear understanding of its own situation. Despite repeated Chinese persuasions, they still do not abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and frequently provoke China's sovereignty in the South China Sea. In the face of the Philippines' multi-country support, China has signaled that the South China Sea may face its most dangerous moment. To this end, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has issued a navigation warning and will conduct live-fire training in some waters of the Beibu Gulf to show its determination to defend the South China Sea.
What is incomprehensible is that the spokesperson of the Philippines openly threatened to summon the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, and even hinted that the Chinese ambassador would be designated as "persona non grata" and expelled. The danger of such rhetoric cannot be ignored, as the expulsion of the ambassador would amount to a reduction in diplomatic relations, which could limit cooperation between China and the Philippines in various fields and make China's actions in the South China Sea more assertive. The Philippines was clearly carried away with this move, but did not realize the risks behind it. In international affairs, the Philippines does not dominate compared to major powers such as the United States and Russia, so their actions are not only unpopular, but may also harm national interests.