news

on august 31, the philippine coast guard ship no. 9701, which illegally stayed at china's xianbin reef, provoked trouble and deliberately rammed the chinese ship no. 5205, which was carrying out normal law enforcement operations, in an unprofessional and dangerous manner. the ship also colliding with the chinese coast guard ship, which accused the chinese coast guard ship of "dangerous operation". the us state department immediately issued a statement, accusing the chinese coast guard ship of "deliberate collision" and labeling china as "dangerous and escalating". china has indisputable sovereignty over the nansha islands, including xianbin reef, and its surrounding waters. the law enforcement actions of the chinese coast guard ship are in accordance with the law. the united states and the philippines are the ones who are creating trouble and escalating the situation dangerously.

there is a detail worth mentioning on that day: when the chinese coast guard took control measures against philippine ships, a us p-8a reconnaissance aircraft appeared on the scene, interfering with our rights protection and law enforcement actions, but most us media did not mention this in their reports. washington should be very clear that the appearance of military aircraft from a non-regional country at the scene of maritime friction itself carries the suspicion of accidental discharge of guns or even adding fuel to the fire. a few days ago, paparo, commander of the us indo-pacific command, publicly declared that it was a "completely reasonable choice" for us ships to escort philippine ships to perform supply missions in the south china sea, causing concerns from the outside world that the us military may directly intervene in the sino-philippine dispute. regardless of the purpose of the appearance of the p-8a this time, it has sent the wrong signal of provoking confrontation and adding fuel to the dangerous performance of the philippines in the south china sea.

since the philippine coast guard ship 9701 entered the xianbin reef lagoon without authorization in april this year, it has undertaken the task of imitating the "mount madre" that "ran aground" on ren'ai reef and illegally "stranded" on chinese territory for a long time. but in fact, under the legal control of the chinese coast guard, the ship's space for action is becoming increasingly embarrassing. on august 27, philippine coast guard spokesman tariela personally admitted that the ship's supplies were seriously insufficient and had reached a "critical level." seeing that the "beaching" goal was difficult to "replicate", ship 9701 began a new round of performances at xianbin reef, which was nothing more than putting all its energy into making trouble and selling misery, trying to stir up public opinion and pretend to be a "victim" to gain sympathy.

manila has been staging a farce of self-mutilation and provocation on the stage of the south china sea, risking the safety of its own crew members and military conflicts, and fantasizing about a breakthrough from "quantitative change to qualitative change". it has to be said that this is a completely wrong calculation. the chinese coast guard has the right, responsibility and ability to take measures to resolutely thwart all infringing acts of provoking trouble and causing trouble at multiple points. the actions that can be implemented include cutting off the philippines' supply to the no. 9701 ship and preventing philippine ships from entering the lagoon. high-powered tugboats that can tow away philippine ships are also on standby at any time. on august 30, china released the "sinbin reef coral reef ecosystem survey report", confirming that the no. 9701 ship has been anchored at the xianbin reef for a long time and will continue to cause damage to the reef. china has never lacked humanitarian goodwill for the normal activities of the philippines in the south china sea, but it will never sit idly by and watch the destructive behavior of philippine ships that continue to damage the ecosystem of the south china sea.

now the us and the philippines are essentially using each other in the south china sea. for the us, no matter how beautiful the words are, the positioning of the philippines as a "chess piece" has never changed. manila is also very clear that what it can bargain with the us is very limited, and the more extreme it goes on the south china sea issue, the less room it has with the us. the reason why the philippines leaked that it is discussing with the us to "expand the scope of interpretation of 'armed attack' in the philippine-us mutual defense treaty" is that it hopes that the us can give the philippines one or two real promises. however, for the philippines, the most important thing is to face reality and give up illusions. manila should not underestimate the price of challenging china, and should not take it for granted that the us will cover everything.

the china-philippines bilateral consultation mechanism on the south china sea issue has held nine meetings, with the most recent meeting being exactly two months ago. the ink on the two sides' commitment to easing the situation at sea has not yet dried. before manila's attempt to use the south china sea issue to engage in geopolitical speculation has undergone a fundamental change in its mentality, china is fully prepared for any possible reversal and provocation by the philippines. for every step the philippines attempts to take forward, china will resolutely force it to retreat and will not let manila get any sweetness. the philippines has only one choice at xianbin reef, which is to withdraw its ships and personnel.

during the visit to china just concluded by us president's national security advisor sullivan, china's position on the south china sea issue was very clear: the united states must not use bilateral treaties as an excuse to undermine china's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and must not support or condone the philippines' infringements. this is a warning to the united states, and also a kind advice. truly listening to and understanding what china says, and moving in the same direction with china, is what the united states must do to avoid what the us media calls "a situation that neither china nor the united states wants to see."

source:global times editorial