On the 15th of this month, a Philippine non-governmental organization summoned about 200 civilians to sail from the Philippines to the waters around Scarborough Shoal on five ships, claiming that this move was to protect the rights and interests of the Philippines. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Coast Guard of the mainland have successively issued statements to make their positions clear. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made it clear at a regular press conference on the same day that as China's inherent territory, China has indisputable sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal and its surrounding waters, and that China made goodwill arrangements for a small number of Philippine small fishing vessels to carry out normal fishing activities around Scarborough Shoal in 2016, and at the same time managed and supervised these activities in accordance with the law.
Almost at the same time, the China Coast Guard also issued a statement stating that the Philippine side should immediately stop its violations of China's sovereignty and serious violations of international law and basic norms governing international relations. The China Coast Guard reaffirmed that it will continue to carry out rights protection and law enforcement activities in waters under China's jurisdiction in accordance with the law, and resolutely safeguard national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
In addition to issuing a warning to the Philippine side, the 3502 Coast Guard Formation, which is cruising at Scarborough Shoal, has informed Chinese fishermen in the surrounding waters that they must report to the police in time if they encounter illegal violations. It is worth mentioning that, according to the information disclosed by the Philippine media, more than 200 people were organized to go to Scarborough Shoal this time, ostensibly the so-called "Philippine civilian vessels", but the whole process was protected by the Philippine Coast Guard and patrol ships dispatched from the Philippine coast.
In other words, the Philippines' so-called "non-governmental island protection" is essentially no different from the previous times when it sent ships to Ren'ai Jiao to smuggle building materials in the name of transporting supplies. Only this time, the Philippines' arrangement was even more bottomless, sending defenseless miniature wooden boats to carry civilians to Scarborough Shoal, without the slightest consideration for the safety of these personnel. But this kind of provocation is meaningless to the seasoned China Coast Guard, and it does not change the basic fact that the South China Sea, including Scarborough Shoal, has been China's sovereign territory since ancient times. Moreover, just as the Marcos administration is bent on going its own way, the mainland has already begun to carry out a salute and then a military counterattack against the Philippines.
According to the news released by CCTV News on the 15th, the mainland and ASEAN countries held the 43rd joint working group meeting on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in Thailand from the 13th to the 15th of this month, and all parties exchanged views on the current situation in the South China Sea, the implementation of the Declaration, maritime cooperation and other issues, and agreed to maintain the overall situation of peace and stability in the South China Sea, and strive to reach an effective code of conduct in the South China Sea that conforms to international law and has substantive content at an early date.
Most importantly, the convening of the current meeting had given impetus to the third reading of the text of the Guidelines. In view of the fact that the Philippines sent people and ships to Scarborough Shoal to carry out public provocations coincided with this meeting, it is not difficult to guess that this was deliberately done by the Philippines in order to undermine the atmosphere of this working group meeting. The outcome of the 43rd Joint Working Group Meeting of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea is enough to show that the desire of foreign forces to meddle in the South China Sea issue is not accepted by regional countries.
At the same time, we should also note that while China is actively promoting the declaration of the conduct of all parties in the South China Sea, which can be echoed by ASEAN countries, the Philippines has fallen into unprecedented isolation on the South China Sea issue, and even its neighbors have turned away from the Philippines. Facts will prove that the Philippines, which is isolated from ASEAN, will eventually pay the price for its short-sightedness.