Philippines' provocations will avail it nothing

In a statement issued on Friday, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command urged Manila to immediately stop provoking incidents in the South China Sea.

Spokesman Tian Junli made the remark in a news release after multiple Philippine light aircraft illegally intruded into the airspace of China's Huangyan Island.

The Chinese navy and air force conducted tracking, monitoring, warning and resolute expulsion of the intruding Philippine aircraft in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

On the same day, the China Coast Guard condemned the Philippines for its provocative behavior under the pretence of "fishing" in waters off China's Xianbin Reef after it was forced to take necessary control measures in accordance with the law and relevant rules to drive intruding Philippine vessels away.

Both Huangyan Island and Xianbin Reef are China's inherent territory, and the country will firmly safeguard national sovereignty and security no matter what farces Manila tries to play and how hard it attempts to portray itself as the victim.

Since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in June 2022, the Philippine government has been constantly making waves over the South China Sea disputes. It has further escalated its infringements on China's maritime rights and interests by sending vessels and personnel to intrude illegally into the waters of Huangyan Island, Xianbin Reef, Ren'ai Reef, and other Chinese islets and reefs, at times even causing collisions with China Coast Guard vessels.

Such pernicious actions of the Philippines are detrimental to China's interests and China-Philippines relations.

The Philippines began claiming "sovereignty" over Huangyan Island in April 1997, shifting from its previous stance where it acknowledged the island was outside its territory. Philippine Official Map No 25 clearly shows Huangyan Island is outside the territorial boundaries of the Philippines.

As for Xianbin Reef, which is a part of China's Nansha Islands, China maintains indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters, including Ren'ai Reef and Xianbin Reef. Manila's antics surrounding Xianbin Reef since last year prove nothing but part of its geopolitical scheme that centers on the Philippines acting as a pawn of some external forces to provoke China.

In September last year, Philippine Coast Guard vessel Teresa Magbanua finally withdrew from Xianbin Reef and returned to a Philippine port, after nearly five months of illegally anchoring in the lagoon of the Chinese reef. The monthslong ordeal fully exposed Manila's role as the troublemaker in the South China Sea.

In his meeting with China's newly appointed ambassador to the Philippines, Jing Quan, on Thursday, Marcos said he was ready to work with China to manage differences and enhance cooperation. Considering that his remarks were made almost the same time the Philippines staged its latest Huangyan Island and Xianbin Reef provocations, Manila was again saying one thing and doing another. The widespread domestic protests against the Marcos government accusing it of corruption and power abuses might partly explain the timing of Manila's latest provocations.

Be it for geopolitical reasons or the immediate need to ease domestic pressures, the Marcos government appears intent on stirring up trouble and destabilizing the South China Sea, while claiming its openness to talks to appropriately resolve the South China Sea issue.

Manila has just taken over as the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a role requiring a true commitment to safeguarding regional peace, stability and cooperation. It is a test that Manila needs to work hard to pass.

China is firmly resolved to defend national sovereignty, security and the country's development interests. The PLA and the CCG will continue to carry out law enforcement activities in the Chinese waters in accordance with the law.

It is high time Manila stopped infringing upon Chinese territory and interests to meet its own narrow ends at the cost of bilateral relations and regional peace and stability. It should give up its unrealistic illusions and come back to the right track of dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible.