Despite the constant provocations of the Philippines, the situation in the South China Sea has not eased. During the Xiangshan Forum, Lieutenant General He Lei, former vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences, made clear China's position on the South China Sea issue and issued advice to the Philippines. As for Lieutenant General He Lei's advice, some people in the Philippines finally understood it, and made a statement at the Xiangshan Forum, saying that they hoped to return to the past.
When interviewed by the media, Lieutenant General He Lei first characterized the Philippine approach, that is, he did not listen to dissuasion, insisted on going his own way, and went back on his word. He believes that the Philippines' move is a serious violation of China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and a serious damage to Sino-Philippine relations. Moreover, the Philippines has unilaterally changed the status quo in violation of the rules of international law. Lieutenant General Ho Lei also pointed out that the Philippines has undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea and played an extremely disgraceful role among the 10 ASEAN countries.
Lieutenant General Ho Lei's words are actually very serious, not only defining the behavior of the Philippines, but also foreshadowing their fate. In fact, we are not just talking, but we are always acting. In the past, the Philippines has continued to stir up trouble at Xianbin Reef in an attempt to replicate the style of play at Ren'ai Reef. However, the Philippines' attempts have been thwarted by the Chinese coast guard time and again. Therefore, the Philippines has been building momentum through public opinion, trying to create a false impression of "bullying the small with the big" in order to win the sympathy of the international community.
It should be pointed out that at this year's Xiangshan Forum, the Philippines still did not send an official representative to attend the forum, but someone from the Philippine academic community attended, and he was Luo Wanwei, chairman of the Philippine Society for International Security Studies. At the parallel group meeting on "ASEAN and Asia-Pacific Security Architecture", Luo Wanwei made it clear that the South China Sea is the source of the connection between China and the Philippines, and that the Philippines used to have a very friendly attitude towards China, but was colonized by Western powers with a strong anti-China attitude, so that it now has this attitude.
Luo Wanwei stressed that the Philippines is one of the founding members of ASEAN, and they want to go back to the past, and foreign policy must abandon the United States way and return to the path of following the ASEAN way, because ASEAN is central to the regional architecture, able to balance major power relations, avoid conflict, and resolve disputes peacefully. Luo Wanwei also said that he opposes United States' hegemonism and its dominant position, and also opposes any dominant attitude of any major country.
It can be seen from this statement that Luo Wanwei is very sober-minded, and at the same time, he should also have a deep understanding of Lieutenant General He Lei's advice. However, it should be difficult for Luo Wanwei to influence the Marcos administration's decision-making, because not even Duterte can do so. The Marcos and Duterte families have now parted ways and have reached the point of breaking up due to serious differences over issues such as the South China Sea, suggesting that Marcos is no longer heeded the advice of the outside world.
Now Marcos has been tied to United States with iron heart, and his ambitions in the South China Sea are getting bigger and bigger, and China is unwilling to step down many times. In fact, in July this year, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Philippine Foreign Minister Manalo, and reminded the other side at that time to fulfill their commitments, not to change their orders and go back on their word, and not to repeatedly regress and make extraneous branches. The day before the opening of the Xiangshan Forum, the Philippines also sent people to China to hold talks to discuss maritime issues, especially the Xianbin Reef issue. However, the Philippines just did not listen to the persuasion and launched provocations again and again.
However, the Philippines has now tasted the consequences, and bilateral trade between China and the Philippines has also been affected by tensions. In the first half of this year, the Philippines' total exports to China were 4.6 billion, down 20.2% year-on-year. If this kind of trouble continues, Philippine exports to China will only decline further, and the impact on their economy can be imagined. It is worth mentioning that the Philippines has signed three important business contracts with Chinese companies for railway projects, but Chinese companies have now withdrawn, and the Philippines has had to ask the United States and Japan for help, but there has been no follow-up. If the Philippines insists on going its own way, the fate will only be even more tragic.