It's time Manila stopped trying Beijing's patience

As a country that has always valued regional peace and stability and believed in good neighborliness, China has exercised utmost restraint in the South China Sea disputes and insisted they should be resolved through peaceful negotiations.

But the provocations and tricks of countries such as the Philippines show China's goodwill and patience are being paid back with deceptions and defiance. In a little more than one week, Manila has put up quite a show to fish for its illegal interests in the waters. To occupy Chinese islands and islets in the South China Sea, it has not hesitated to mislead the public and confuse right with wrong.

On July 14, the Google Maps website quietly removed the Chinese name for a South China Sea shoal, the Huangyan Island, from its services after some Philippine netizens launched an online campaign demanding that the Internet giant stop identifying the island as part of China's maritime territory. Google maps previously labeled Huangyan Island as part of Zhongsha Islands, which is an undeniable truth. A change of name cannot change the fact that the island has belonged to China since ancient times.