Did you know that the Philippine foreign minister took the initiative to seek a phone call with the Chinese foreign minister, but we did not save any face for the Philippines. Why did the Philippines, which was so arrogant before, suddenly change its attitude? In this issue, let's talk about this topic.
Some time ago, on the South China Sea issue, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was somewhat arrogant with MacArthur and ignored our warnings. This year, it is again pulling the United States to carry out military exercises, and it is again sending its own official ships to attack the waters Xi of Scarborough Shoal and Ren'ai Jiao. However, it is difficult to change their nature of being strong on the outside and doing things in the middle, and as soon as the water cannons in the South China Sea sounded, the attitude of the Philippines immediately softened.
Due to Marcos's various provocative actions, we directly sent a coast guard fleet to block Ren'ai Jiao and wait for the natural disintegration of the Philippine beached ships. However, the Philippines is lucky, always feeling that China will not take it seriously, and has been sending their ships to attack the blockade line of the Chinese coast guard fleet. The end result is that Philippine ships are often swept away by the water cannons installed on Chinese coast guard ships.
Now Marcos racked his brains and didn't come up with a way to win, and the United States behind it is not as "invincible" as the Philippines thinks, the Philippines has shouted for support for so long, and the U.S. Navy has sent a combat ship that can be regarded as a marginal role in their naval sequence to Ren'ai Jiao.
This made the Philippines panic all of a sudden, and they could also feel that according to the current attitude of the United States, this is putting the Philippines in front of the charge, and once China and the Philippines become hostile, the Philippines will inevitably suffer heavy losses. Therefore, the Philippines began to want to sit down with China to talk about the South China Sea issue, and wanted to take the initiative to seek peace.
On December 20, Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone call with Philippine Foreign Minister Manaro. One point worth noting about this phone call is that the Chinese media reported that the telephone meeting was described as "promised". In other words, the foreign minister of the Philippines took the initiative to call. At a time when China and the Philippines were about to turn their faces because of the South China Sea issue, a sudden phone call came, which means that the attitude of the Philippines is beginning to change.
Manaro's statement is indeed a sign of weakness, claiming that the Philippines is sincere in strengthening dialogue with China, and they also hope to work with us to find a solution to the problem, prevent the conflict from escalating, and cool down the situation as soon as possible. The Philippines also agreed to establish a stable consultation mechanism with China on the South China Sea issue.
I don't know if Marcos got the script wrong, and when their government spokesman held a press conference some time ago, he also said that he would list the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines as "persona non grata" and expel him. It didn't take long for their attitudes to change. However, at this time, the Chinese foreign minister confronted the South China Sea issue head-on and did not save face for the Philippines.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi bluntly said that the root cause of the serious difficulties facing China-Philippines relations is that the Philippines has changed its policy stance so far, reneged on its commitments, and continued to provoke trouble at sea, undermining China's legitimate and legitimate rights.
It can be said that Foreign Minister Wang Yi's words were concise and to the point, and he explained the current problems in one sentence. After all, China's attitude on the South China Sea issue is obvious to all, and we have always hoped to cooperate with neighboring countries to jointly develop the resources of the South China Sea. It is the Philippines that is driven by the desire for profit, and at the instigation of certain countries, it has constantly provoked China.
At the same time, China has also pointed out a clear path for the Philippines, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying that the top priority is to properly handle and manage the current maritime situation. The implicit implication of China is that even if the situation in the South China Sea is so grim, China is still willing to give the Philippines a step forward to work with the Philippines to maintain stability.
However, while China gave the Philippines a step, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said that if the Philippines misjudged the situation, insisted on going its own way, or even colluded with external forces with ill intentions to continue to cause chaos, China will defend its rights in accordance with the law and resolutely respond. If this can be summed up in seven words, it is to warn the Philippines not to "toast and not eat and punish wine".
Indeed, the Philippines should no longer have those unrealistic expectations, because China's position on the South China Sea issue is very clear. The islands and reefs in the South China Sea are China's territory, and China's sovereignty over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea is supported by both history and legal theory, and the Philippines has no right to question it.
If the Philippines still wants to make trouble, it will have to be careful of China's thunderous methods. Now China is only using water cannons to drive away Philippine ships, and if they continue to cross China's red lines, they are bound to regret the results.