Nanhai Zhudao and its surrounding waters have been an inseparable part of the mainland since ancient times, but a small number of countries around the South China Sea, represented by the Philippines, covet the rich marine resources of the South China Sea, which do not belong to them. In particular, with the support of the United States, the Philippines has repeatedly carried out armed provocations in the South China Sea, including Scarborough Shoal and Ren'ai Jiao, stirring up the situation in the South China Sea and triggering regional tensions.
Such misconduct by the Philippines has aroused not only the opposition of the mainland, but also the resentment of neighboring countries. We know that the biggest reason why the Philippines dares to deliberately provoke in the South China Sea is not only the United States, but also the Philippines' membership in ASEAN. The mainland and ASEAN countries have very good diplomatic relations and very close economic cooperation, and if the Philippines deliberately provokes the confrontation between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea into a contradiction with ASEAN by virtue of its status as an ASEAN member, then it will be difficult to clean up the matter.
And now, this Philippine bargaining chip is likely to be sent to Indonesia, the largest economic country in ASEAN, the largest country in terms of population, and a powerful country in Southeast Asia. Recently, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has always been friendly to China, visited the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei, and the biggest purpose of President Jokowi's visit was to hope that ASEAN countries would accept the negotiation process of the "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea" aimed at peacefully resolving conflicts in the South China Sea. In other words, Indonesian President Joko Widodo went to the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries to be a "lobbyist".
As the largest country in ASEAN, Indonesia has a huge influence in both ASEAN and Southeast Asia. Indonesia's attitude, in fact, to a certain extent, also represents the attitude of the entire ASEAN. Although the Philippines relies on the support of the United States, if the Philippines insists on going its own way and ignores Indonesia's persuasion, it may lead the Philippine Marcos Jr. administration to fall into diplomatic isolation in Southeast Asia, which the Philippines cannot bear.
As the saying goes, many friends have many paths, and the reason why Indonesia is willing to come forward is that, on the one hand, the mainland's adherence to "shelving disputes and joint development" in the South China Sea has successfully won the support and understanding of most righteous countries, including Indonesia. On the other hand, through economic cooperation projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, the mainland has made Indonesia and even the entire ASEAN see the huge benefits that cooperation with China can bring. Therefore, I believe that the Indonesian president's visit has also reminded us that while we resolutely criticize the Philippines' misconduct, we should also try our best to unite all forces that can be united, so that the Philippine proposition will "lose its market" in ASEAN, which will certainly be of great benefit to our peaceful settlement of the South China Sea issue.