Manila's brinkmanship risks overstepping mark

The Philippines' reneging on its recently reached agreement with China that the two sides should properly manage their maritime disputes shows that Manila has no sincerity in saying it seeks to resolve the disputes through negotiations with Beijing.

Having claimed it wanted to create favorable conditions for the sound and stable development of China-Philippines relations and expressed its willingness to enhance dialogue with the Chinese side to ease tensions, Manila wasted little time in giving the lie to its words with its actions in the South China Sea.

Soon after the Philippines' foreign minister made those remarks, the Philippines made a great show of airdropping supplies to the troops occupying its beached-on-the-reef warship at China's Ren'ai Reef and sent people to break into the reef tray of Huangyan Island. Now, the Philippines is emulating the United States and trying to create a "small circle" against China so as to increase pressure on China in the South China Sea under the pretext of "security issues". It is hard to escape the conclusion that the Joe Biden administration is the puppet master behind these moves, which give extra bite to the United States' "Indo-Pacific" strategy.

During his recent visit to Vietnam, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr claimed to be "disturbed" by China's actions — a remark echoing the deep concern expressed by the US president at China's actions in the South China Sea, which he alleges are "dangerous and unlawful" — and the Philippine and Vietnamese governments reportedly signed two memorandums of understanding, agreeing to set up a communication hotline and establish a joint coast guard committee.

Yet it is the Philippines' actions that are infringements on China's territorial integrity and which constitute dangerous provocations. It is even more outrageous that such provocations should happen just days after the Philippines agreed to work with China to resolve their marine disputes peacefully and shore up stability in the waters.

Manila is being naive if it thinks it can pin its hopes on the backing of the US for its smash-and-grab attempts. For the US, the Philippines is just a handy piece to play in its game to contain China.

Given that the world is already afflicted with serious conflicts, the Philippines should realize its reckless brinkmanship of constantly raising tensions in the South China Sea could easily lead to a head-on conflict in the waters. In such a worst-case scenario, the Philippines is unlikely to fare well.

China has so far exercised considerable restraint as it is still intent on settling the maritime disputes in the South China Sea through negotiation and consultation. Despite all the provocations, China remains committed to making the South China Sea a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship. But this should not be mistaken by Manila as China lacking the resolve to protect its core interests.