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CCTV: In an open letter published on April 2, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. pointed to the “trap” set by Chinese propaganda of refocusing the debate on a so-called promise while deflecting attention away from China’s government, thereby freeing and allowing them to continue with their illegal activities in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. What’s your comment? Wang Wenbin: The Philippines keeps accusing China of “intimidating smaller countries” without mentioning at all the Philippine occupation of and encroachment on China’s territory in Nansha Qundao. That is a real propaganda “trap”. On the issue of Ren’ai Jiao, it’s not the size, but the behavior of a country that determines who is right and who is wrong. Right after the Philippines deliberately grounded its warship on Ren’ai Jiao in 1999, which seriously violated China’s sovereignty, China made démarches to the Philippines, and the Philippines promised to tow away the warship several times. A senior official of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs made it clear that the Philippines had no intention of building any facility on Ren’ai Jiao and it doesn’t want to and will not be the first country to violate the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). But 25 years on, not only hasn’t the Philippines fulfilled its promise to tow away the warship, it has even attempted to send construction materials for large-scale repair and reinforcement of the warship in order to build permanent structures on Ren’ai Jiao. The Philippines has gone back on its words, and stirred up trouble to provoke China. This is not only breach of the understandings between the two sides on handling the Ren’ai Jiao issue, but also a violation of the DOC, especially its Article 5 on refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays, and other features. The Philippines is clearly responsible for the current tensions in the South China Sea. China and ASEAN countries have long been committed to properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation between states directly involved, and worked together to jointly maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, which has kept the South China Sea generally stable. But for some time, the Philippines has been pulling non-regional actors into the South China Sea affairs to back Philippine provocations and violation of China’s sovereignty. The Philippines has been pursing selfish gains at the expense of the consensus reached by countries in the region. This is the main reason why the situation in the the South China Sea has escalated and become more complicated. We once again urge the Philippines to respect the facts, observe the relevant understandings between the two sides and DOC provisions, follow the consensus reached between China and ASEAN countries, and return to the right track of properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible. __________________ ShanghaiEye focuses on producing top-quality contents. Nobody knows SHANGHAI better than us. Please subscribe to us ☻☻☻ __________________ For more stories, please click ■ What's up today in Shanghai, the most updated news of the city ■ Amazing Shanghai, exploring the unknown corners of the city, learning the people, food and stories behind them ■ What Chinese people's lives are like during the post COVID-19 period ■ Views of foreign scholars on China and its affairs ■ Foreign faces in Shanghai, people living in this city sharing their true feelings ■ Mini-docs showing why China is the country it is today __________________ ☎Leave us messages if you have any suggestions or questions! Thank you!
