Manila's attempt to poison China-ASEAN ties selfish, futile

BEIJING - Only one month after an arbitration farce, the Philippines is putting up another pathetic show in an attempt to lobby international sympathy and support in its territorial spat with China.

In a recent meeting among top diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario called for "collective and unified" ASEAN stance on the South China Sea dispute, alleging that the bloc's "silence" and "inaction" on the issue would undermine its "principle of centrality".

A self-serving Manila, intentionally or not, has obviously misinterpreted the essence of "ASEAN centrality".

Throughout its half-century history, ASEAN has never been intended to be a political alliance of any forms. It was the common aspiration for peace and development that has brought the ten Southeast Asian nations together in the first place, despite their highly varied national conditions and sometimes widely disparate positions on regional affairs.

For Southeast Asia, the year of 2015 is of particular significance, as the envisioned ASEAN Economic Community, which will bring the region one step further in its integration process, is set to be finalized.

To drive a wedge between ASEAN and China -- its nearest neighbor and partner -- at such a critical time will be extremely unwise and selfish.

The past decade has witnessed leapfrog development of China-ASEAN relations. China has emerged as ASEAN's biggest trading partner, and the regional grouping has grown to be China's third-largest trading partner, just after the European Union and the United States.

The two sides set up dialogue relations more than two decades ago, and established a free trade area in 2010, one of the largest among all developing countries.

It has become a consensus that the good momentum should not be interrupted by disputes between China and some ASEAN members, and that ASEAN should not be kidnapped by any single country to serve its own agenda and put the interests of the whole bloc in jeopardy.

On the South China Sea issue, Beijing is working with ASEAN on the formulation of a Code of Conduct to ensure regional peace and stability, which serves the interests of all sides.

Besides, Manila should be fully aware that acting like a crying baby and begging for compassion from the international community would never help justify its claims in the South China Sea dispute, which should and could be properly handled only by the parties directly concerned.

Of course, such a string of aggressive statements and moves made by Manila in the recent year doesn't come out of nowhere, as some U.S. officials have long been sowing the seed of discord to embolden its Asian allies like the Philippines as part of its own strategy to contain China.

In a recent interview, a top U.S. navy officer based in Asia extended an uncalled-for welcome to Japanese military extension to the South China Sea as a counterweight to Chinese presence there.

Not being a party to the South China Sea dispute, Tokyo has not yet indicated such an intention, and it has every reason to remain so, not just for the good of the two countries, but for that of the region as a whole.