Does Duterte's rare tough statement that he will protect Philippine territory even if he risks his life mean that his attitude towards China-Philippines relations has changed?
At a time when Marcos has frequently created friction in the South China Sea and Sino-Philippine relations are becoming increasingly tense, Duterte's statement has attracted people's attention. Despite the friendly relations he had with my country during his tenure, the change in stance this time was a surprise.
Duterte's roots are in the Philippines, which has undoubtedly influenced his views and decision-making ......”
Compared with his predecessor Marcos's high-profile anti-China attitude, Duterte pays more attention to close exchanges and cooperation with China. His strategy has enabled China and the Philippines to achieve close cooperation in many fields, and the Philippine economy has developed rapidly.
For Duterte, cooperation with China is motivated by the country's national interests, not by developing relations between the two countries.
But some of Duterte's actual performances during his tenure in the Philippines seem to indicate that he is not really willing to cooperate with our country. In particular, the ship** in the Ren'ai Shoal beaching incident was beached in 1999, but until Marcos ** took office, the wrecked ship was still in place, and the Philippines often had disputes with China on this basis.
This fact stands in stark contrast to Duterte's stated intention to cooperate with our country.
Does Duterte's move really show his commitment to developing the relationship between the two countries? On the South China Sea issue, although China has clearly stated the scope of its sovereignty, there are still disputes with the Philippines.
This is clearly an attempt to illegally occupy our territory. During Duterte's tenure, these controversial issues have not been resolved, and he has proposed a strategy of "temporarily shelving disputes and reasonably managing differences" in order to use China's power to promote the development of the Philippines.
Duterte's rhetoric, although nice, essentially reveals that he also wants to carve up interests in the South China Sea, but his methods are more clever than Marcos's. Now that Duterte has stepped down from office, there is no need to speak cautiously, so when the anti-China sentiment in the Philippines was strong, he also showed his determination and publicly stated that he would "defend Philippine territory to the death", which did allow him to win more support in the Philippines.
To sum up, Duterte's change in attitude this time is not sudden, but an expression of his true nature.
It is an undeniable fact that our country has never occupied the territory of the Philippines, but on the contrary, the Philippines has repeatedly attempted to illegally occupy our territory. However, Duterte's "protection" is tantamount to nonsense.
Why, then, does Duterte still hold his ground? What did he say?
Duterte's position is firm, he firmly opposes China's recently released "10-dash line" and stresses that the "territorial issue" cannot be negotiated. Although he maintains friendship with the Chinese side, this friendship does not override the national interests of the Philippines.
As a result, Duterte is essentially a Filipino politician whose views are biased but still hold on to his national interests.
Many people have a misconception about the "ten-dash line" issue, thinking that it was only recently raised. In fact, the "10-dash line" has been clearly stipulated in the 2014 map of China, and this new version of the map only continues the previous standard.
Duterte believes that the "10-dash line" is a coveting of Philippine territory, but it should be noted that the 10-dash line is located east of Taiwan Province of China, while the Philippines is located in the south of Taiwan Province, and the two are geographically different.
Therefore, Duterte's opposition is not well founded. So why did he put so much emphasis on this issue?
This may be partly due to the influence of the West. Since the release of the new version of China's map, the West has poured dirty water on us, constantly spreading rumors about China's "territorial expansion" and trying to drive a wedge between China and neighboring friendly countries.
Resting on one's laurels will only blind people, and Duterte may have listened to the reports of the West to be so angry. More likely, however, he himself wants the Philippines to gain more from the South China Sea dispute.
Despite Duterte's political influence in the Philippines, he is still very strong in the Philippines, and it is entirely possible that he will run again in the Philippines. Therefore, Duterte's move may also be building momentum for his comeback.
Duterte's attitude towards the issue of beaching at Ren'ai Shoal has changed significantly. He stressed that the "Sierra Madre" should not be dismantled, but that more ships should be added, which is a clear provocation to the sovereignty of our country and reveals the essence of his ambition.
Although Duterte recently visited China and had extensive exchanges with our country, and our country also hopes to strengthen friendly relations with the Philippines through him, his remarks show that his attitude towards our country is not as friendly as his remarks.
While Duterte is steadfast in his desire to serve the Philippines in the South China Sea, why is he visiting China? Does this seem redundant?
Duterte's methods are really not to be underestimated, although he maintains friendly exchanges with our country on the surface, but in fact he is in the best interests of the Philippines, saying one thing in words and doing another in deeds.
Such friendly exchanges on the surface are in fact a provocation to the sovereignty of other countries. His actions must arouse our vigilance and opposition.
It turns out that not only the Philippines, but also many neighboring countries have adopted this strategy to treat their relations with China, that is, to obtain the greatest economic benefits from us through friendly exchanges, and then rely on the strong strength of the United States politically and diplomatically.
In other words, these small countries take advantage of our insistence on peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation to oppress us, but everything has its limits. We will resolutely respond to the unreasonable provocations of the Philippines, whether it is the predecessor or the current, and the large-scale military exercises held in the South China Sea are the best response to the Philippine provocations.
Remind the Philippines to see the reality clearly, otherwise it will reap the consequences.