news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Lai Qingde can no longer land on the island, the Taiwan authorities sided with the Philippines, and four countries banded together to put pressure on China. China asked six questions in a row, getting to the heart of the matter. After the friction between China and the Philippines at Xianbin Reef, which countries publicly supported the Philippines and put pressure on China? How does the Taiwan authorities view the changes in the situation in the South China Sea? What is China's latest response?

On August 19, two Philippine coast guard ships entered the waters near Xianbin Reef in China's Nansha Islands without the permission of the Chinese government. After China dissuaded and warned them, the Philippine ships deliberately rammed the Chinese coast guard ships on the scene in a dangerous manner. In the end, they suffered a great loss.

After the incident, it attracted widespread attention from the international community. Countries outside the region, including the United States, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom, have spoken out, accusing the Chinese Coast Guard of "dangerous and unprofessional" law enforcement behavior, and even brought up the 2016 "South China Sea Arbitration Result" to support the Philippines.

For example, the US State Department also issued a special statement on the matter, condemning China's dangerous actions for escalating tensions.

On August 20, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines issued a statement severely refuting the statements made by the United States and its allies, and raised six consecutive questions:

First, what facts are the basis for these countries’ positions, and what solid evidence are their accusations against China based on?

Second, how did they quickly determine the right and wrong of the incident?

Third, are they the self-appointed judge and jury?

Fourth, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea has become an important part of the legal order in the South China Sea recognized by all parties, and has been tested repeatedly in practice for 22 years. Don’t they know this?

Fifth, as an uninhabited island reef, Xianbin Reef should remain uninhabited and without facilities. Don’t they know this?

Sixth, if they really care about peace and stability in the South China Sea, why do they keep sowing discord and adding fuel to the fire?

The six consecutive questions from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines went straight to the core of the issue, which is the root cause of the tense situation in the South China Sea.

However, we noticed that the Taiwan authorities, which should have stood with mainland China to safeguard China's territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea, performed disappointingly this time.

After the friction broke out between China and the Philippines, when discussing the topic, the Taiwan authorities not only did not accuse the Philippines of illegal actions, but instead claimed that "freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is related to regional peace and stability", and called on the mainland to remain calm and resolve disputes in a peaceful manner, and emphasized that "it opposes unilateral use of force to change the status quo."

Although it was not stated explicitly, the subtext of these remarks is that the Taiwan authorities are siding with the Philippines and criticizing the mainland's law enforcement and defense of sovereignty.

In fact, on the South China Sea issue, the DPP has always been very cowardly. For fear of offending the United States, the Philippines and other countries and losing the so-called "support" of external forces, the DPP's related statements and actions have always been timid.

Especially on the issue of Taiping Island, starting with Tsai Ing-wen, no one dared to take action to land on the island to "declare sovereignty". Now with Lai Ching-te, the same style applies. Although under pressure from the Kuomintang and other parties, the Taiwan authorities have been sending signals that they are considering landing on the island since this year, the chairman of the "Maritime Affairs Council" Guan Bi-ling, who originally planned to land on Taiping Island on August 6, temporarily canceled the trip.

Experts on the island even commented that although Guan Bi-ling did not visit Taiping Island, her message was conveyed and it could also convey an attitude to the mainland, that is, the Taiwan authorities still care about the importance of Taiping Island and that it would help ease cross-strait relations.

Even Guan Bi-ling does not dare to land on the island, let alone Lai Ching-te. Now the island is siding with the Philippines on the issue of sovereignty in the South China Sea, which shows that the Taiwan authorities are incapable of defending the sovereignty of the South China Sea. The mainland should take measures to gradually take back the right to govern.