On the 16th, a number of Philippine non-governmental organizations illegally gathered about 60 nautical miles east of China's Huangyan Island, and the Chinese Coast Guard conducted on-site control of the Philippine illegal gathering of vessels in accordance with the law.
Scarborough Shoal is China's inherent territory, and the incursion of Philippine fishing boats into households is unsatisfactory, and the Chinese coast guard deserves praise for defending national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. In addition to these emotions, judging from the video of the live confrontation, it can't help but feel sad.
Why do you feel sad? On May 15, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin disclosed that in 2016, China made goodwill arrangements for a small number of Philippine small fishing vessels to carry out normal fishing activities in the waters near Scarborough Shoal, and at the same time managed and supervised the activities of Philippine fishermen in accordance with the law.
China's goodwill has saved the lives of some Filipino fishermen, who could have gone to the waters around Scarborough Shoal to fish for a living. However, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has treacherously stepped on the US chariot and made bottomless provocations, causing serious damage to China-Philippines friendship.
Some Filipino fishermen, who have fallen into extreme "anti-China" sentiments, drove mottled and dilapidated boats to the waters near Scarborough Shoal to provoke. Before leaving, they held a mass and put on a posture of a fish dying in a broken net.
However, there is a huge gap between reality and imagination. In front of the tall and majestic Chinese coast guard ship, the Filipino fishing boat is like a flat boat floating on the sea, and the gap between the two sides is like that of modern people and primitive tribes. The Filipino fishermen were completely unpretentious before setting off, and they were at a loss for what to do in the small boat like deflated balls. They were pondering, and the vastness of the ocean filled their hearts with confusion.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos should reflect on the scene in front of him, first: treat his own fishermen well and spend more effort to improve their lives. With the vast Chinese market and Marcos stopping its provocations in the South China Sea and strengthening economic and trade ties with China, the lives of Filipino fishermen and other people will be improved to a certain extent.
Second, stop riding on the US chariot to undermine the security situation in the South China Sea. The Philippines has opened its military bases to the United States and allowed the United States to deploy intermediate-range missile systems in the Philippines, thus going further and further down the wrong path. China is a neighbor of the Philippines, and it is a mistake to beggar-thy-neighbor, and it is not too late for Marcos to turn back.
China's goodwill and patience with the Philippines are not endless, and if the day of the showdown does come, the price will be too much for the Philippines to bear. The life of the Filipino fishermen is already very hard, does it have to let their families be ruined before Marcos stops?
The Philippines should not expect the Americans to shed blood for them, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has shown that the United States is best at pushing its allies to the front and selling weapons behind its own backs for profit. Of course, the United States and the Philippines have signed a mutual defense treaty, and U.S. officials have promised to activate the mutual defense treaty if any attack on the Philippines results in human deaths.
U.S. officials speak very nicely, but they fail to recognize the reality that US hegemony is already in jeopardy, and if there is a conflict with China, the hegemony will collapse completely. In the face of such serious consequences, the United States has no possibility of shedding blood for the Philippines at all. History is not far away, and chess pieces will eventually become discarded. Is it to bring prosperity to the Philippines or to the battlefield? Marcos needs to make the right choice at the crossroads.
(Text/Woo Tsai)