Recently, the Philippines has deliberately stirred up negative topics, constantly smeared China's image on the South China Sea issue, and deceived the international community. Some politicians, scholars and research institutions in the Philippines and China have often "compared" the current situation in the Red Sea with the South China Sea issue in the international public opinion field. Some Western scholars also asked questions about this at the Munich Security Conference held a few days ago. In fact, the two are completely incomparable. They are completely different in nature and scope and cannot be confused.

The Philippines' territorial claim to Huangyan Island is unreasonable

The actions taken by China's maritime law enforcement forces on Ren'ai Reef in the Nansha Islands and Huangyan Island in the Zhongsha Islands are normal activities to safeguard their territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. They are based on China's territorial sovereignty over the relevant islands and reefs, not out of geopolitical considerations, nor are they taking advantage of the current international situation to expand in the South China Sea. The Philippines' smearing of China's actions to safeguard sovereignty as a kind of "maritime bullying" is a hype strategy it has adopted in recent years in the public opinion field, including in multilateral diplomatic occasions. This echoes the "de-disputation", "quasi-arbitration" and "pan-security" promoted by the United States and the West in the South China Sea narrative.

From the perspective of international law, China has sufficient historical and legal basis for its territorial sovereignty over Ren'ai Reef and Huangyan Island. China's official documents, including the white paper released in previous years, have already discussed this in detail. The outer limits of the Philippines' territory are determined by three international treaties. Ren'ai Reef and Huangyan Island are both outside the Philippine territorial limits. Taking the Philippines' territorial claim to Huangyan Island as an example, it is either based on the so-called "security reasons" or the so-called "geographical proximity", which is not the rule of international law on territorial acquisition. The Philippines' position and basis are not only untenable, but also frequently change and even contradictory.

During the Duterte period, China and the Philippines reached a consensus not to discuss the South China Sea issue based on the South China Sea arbitration ruling. At the operational level, temporary arrangements were made for Philippine fishermen to fish in the waters near Huangyan Island. The two sides have a certain tacit understanding in dealing with maritime frictions, while also taking into account the overall situation of bilateral relations. Of course, the temporary arrangement has preconditions, such as Philippine fishing boats cannot enter the Huangyan Island lagoon, violate Chinese laws and regulations, catch rare marine life, and damage the ecological environment of nearby waters. At the same time, the Philippine Coast Guard and others are not allowed to rush into Huangyan Island, expel or detain Chinese fishermen, etc. These preconditions reflect China's sovereignty and jurisdiction over Huangyan Island. The temporary arrangement for Philippine fishermen under these preconditions is a goodwill release to the Philippines.

Illegally "beached" Philippine warships damage the marine ecology

After the new Philippine government came to power, it adjusted its South China Sea policy and China policy, and its speculative mentality and gambler mentality were highlighted. It constantly provoked and hyped up the maritime situation, and the tacit understanding between the two sides at the maritime operation level was broken one after another. In response, China has taken strong measures to safeguard its rights, and at the same time, it is also working to urge the Philippines to return to the right track of managing maritime disputes and avoiding the escalation of crises through negotiations and consultations. These measures also allow the Philippines and the United States to see China's determination and bottom line in safeguarding its territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea.

Recently, the Philippines has frequently brought up marine environmental issues and even threatened to file an "international lawsuit" against China again. In fact, Philippine fishermen have been destroying the environment in the waters near the islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands, and activities such as bombing, poisoning and electrocuting fish have occurred from time to time. This first violates China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. China has sufficient legal basis and ability to regulate Philippine fishermen. This also reflects that the Philippines is by no means the "marine environmental protector" it claims to be.

The hull of the Philippine warship that illegally "ran aground" on Ren'ai Reef is rusted, and there are residual fuel oil stains on the ship. Over the years, it has caused considerable damage to the marine environment of Ren'ai Reef. The Philippines racked its brains to reinforce the "run aground" warship. Construction waste and domestic waste generated by the garrison personnel on board polluted the marine environment. Chinese scientific research ships and law enforcement ships have repeatedly salvaged plastic waste printed with Philippine characters near Ren'ai Reef.

For many years, China has actively promoted the summer fishing moratorium policy in the South China Sea and achieved good results. It has also repeatedly called on the Philippines to jointly implement the fishing moratorium policy, but the Philippines has a very negative attitude towards this. It is impossible to rely on a single country to protect the marine environment of the South China Sea. The South China Sea dispute is difficult to be effectively resolved in the short term. The Philippines should work with China to gradually restore political mutual trust and promote cooperation in marine environmental protection and resource conservation from small cuts and specific issues, rather than the opposite.

The Philippines needs to have a clear understanding of the South China Sea issue

At present, the key internal factor affecting the stability of the South China Sea is still the unilateral infringement actions of other parties concerned, but the United States is the biggest external shock source. Many things would be much easier to talk about between the parties concerned without the intervention of the United States.

Since the strengthening of the US-Philippines alliance in 2023, the United States has provided a lot of support to the Philippines in terms of public opinion, diplomacy, on-site and information intelligence on the South China Sea issue. These actions of the United States have greatly encouraged and instigated the Philippines. Whenever there are maritime incidents at Ren'ai Reef and Huangyan Island, Americans always stand up to endorse the Philippines, including issuing statements, threatening China with the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, and using the South China Sea arbitration ruling to "tighten the ropes" on China, which further strengthens the Philippines' adventurous and speculative mentality. From historical experience, in the past few years, if there is regional turmoil, the Philippines will take advantage of the situation for countries outside the region, especially the United States. In the case of countermeasures from China, the Philippines will eventually bear the bitter fruit.

A peaceful and stable environment in the South China Sea is the common expectation of countries in the region. Under the current situation, the Philippines should first have a clear understanding of the South China Sea dispute and recognize that the only feasible solution is to manage differences through bilateral negotiations and consultations. Second, it should not try to imagine that it will once again bring a compulsory arbitration similar to the South China Sea arbitration case against China or resort to other third-party dispute settlement mechanisms. Such packaging of demands and abuse of the dispute settlement procedures of the Law of the Sea will only make the South China Sea dispute more complicated, and China will never accept it. Third, the Philippines cannot demand both the "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea" and the South China Sea arbitration ruling. The current rule-based order construction in the South China Sea region is not for resolving disputes but for managing crises. The rules are not aimed at China alone but should be equally applied to all parties concerned, regardless of size. Other parties concerned should not imagine imposing their unilateral claims adjusted in accordance with the arbitration ruling on China. Before the completion of the consultations on the "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea", all parties should fully, faithfully, completely and effectively implement the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea", especially the relevant provisions of the fifth paragraph of the "Declaration". (Author: Ding Duo, Deputy Director of the Institute of Marine Law and Policy, China Institute of South China Sea Studies)

Plastic Industry Video