According to a report by France International News on December 29, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will plan to visit China for the first time next week. During this period, he will raise the issue of territorial disputes in the South China Sea with senior Chinese government officials, as well as joint cooperation in energy. Bloomberg reported that during the president’s visit to China from January 3 to 5 next year, it is planned to establish a direct call line between the two foreign ministries to avoid miscalculations caused by miscommunication on the South China Sea issue. A Philippine foreign ministry official told AFP that the agreement will be signed next week during the president's planned visit to Beijing.
According to French media reports, it is obviously pointing out that the Philippines and China have several island disputes in the South China Sea. So far, the Philippines occupies 8 islands and reefs in the South my country Sea, including Thitu Island, the second natural island in the South China Sea. The pro-US forces in the Philippines want to cooperate with the US strategy on the South China Sea issue, thereby provoking conflicts between China and the Philippines, especially on the South China Sea issue. However, regarding the control of the South China Sea, the sovereignty of the South China Sea is in the hands of our country. However, due to the resources possessed by the South China Sea and the desire of neighboring countries to seek development, our country has put forward the proposition of "sovereignty belongs to us and joint development".
However, Vietnam and the Philippines both claim sovereignty over the South China Sea, and they obviously have some objections to my country's claims. But for the Philippines, due to the more pragmatic diplomatic policy adopted by the Philippines during the Duterte administration in recent years, it can be said that the South China Sea dispute has ushered in a brief period of tranquility. However, the French media exaggerated that as Duterte's successor, Philippine President Marcos adopted a different attitude from his predecessor Duterte after being elected. Marcos Jr. has also repeatedly stated that bilateral relations with China should not be defined by one issue, insisting that he will not let China trample on the Philippines' maritime rights.
In the conclusion rendered by the French media, they said that the Sino-Philippine maritime dispute continues to plague the two neighboring countries’ long-term efforts to deepen bilateral relations. French media also said: Despite this, after taking office, Marcos emphasized his commitment to establishing a "new golden era" of relations with China, describing China as the Philippines' "most powerful partner" in the post-pandemic economic recovery. With rising public debt and a raft of unfinished infrastructure projects, Marcos Jr. has aggressively courted Chinese investment in the Philippines. Apparently the French media have also seen the Philippines' motivation to seek cooperation with China, and of course know that the Philippines does not want to conflict with China on the South China Sea issue.
Agence France-Presse reported that Neil Yper, Philippine Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific affairs, said on Wednesday that "in order to avoid miscalculation and misinformation in the West Philippine Sea, the two sides agreed to sign an agreement to establish direct communication at all levels between the two countries' foreign ministries." Obviously, the AFP report means that the Philippines hopes to reach an agreement with China in waters near the western Philippines, so as to avoid miscalculations with China in these waters, or to resolve some conflicts between the two sides. This refers to the waters immediately west of the Philippines. The official added that "the president hopes to have a peaceful and stable situation in the West Philippine Sea."
Obviously the Philippines knows its own strength and knows that if a military conflict breaks out with China in the South China Sea, the United States will not stand up for the Philippines at all. You must know that the situation in 2016 was already there. The then Aquino III government listened to the instigation of the United States and continued to provoke China on the South China Sea issue. However, after the so-called international arbitration was issued, the United States retreated two aircraft carriers directly to the Western Pacific. The Philippines has directly seen that the United States does not want to go to war with China. At the same time, China has also announced the whereabouts of the US aircraft carrier . This also makes the Philippines well aware that China is fully capable of destroying the US aircraft carrier in the waters surrounding China.
In the scenario of 2016, the United States would not be able to stand up for the Philippines, not to mention that China’s current naval power is much stronger than in 2016.China already has a Shandong aircraft carrier in the South China Sea and is conducting cruise drills in the South China Sea. The strength of China's South China Sea Fleet is greater than that of the entire countries surrounding the South China Sea, and the combined strength of all navies. What capital does the Philippines have to compete with the Chinese navy? If the United States does not support the Philippines, what strength does the Philippines have to seize China's sovereignty over the South China Sea? Even though the Philippines now occupies eight islands and reefs in the South China Sea, the Philippines knows very well that China has not taken them back by force for the sake of regional peace for the time being.
If Philippine leaders can reach some agreements with China on relevant waters in the South China Sea this time, it will obviously be able to reduce miscalculations between the Philippines and China in some waters of the South China Sea. Especially in recent times, Western media have been maliciously hyping up the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines, and the Philippines does not want to be taken advantage of by Western media. After all, the Western media hopes that the Philippines can provoke territorial disputes with China, and the Philippines does not want to become a pawn of Western countries. Even if the Philippine leader visits China and raises the South China Sea issue again, he will move in the direction of a peaceful solution between the two countries. "Sovereignty belongs to us and joint development" will be the core of solving the South China Sea issue. (The pictures in this article come from the Internet)
