The Philippines is very dishonest, indeed

The recent maritime friction took place in the waters of Ren'ai Reef. The Philippine ship violated its promise and sent a supply ship and two inflatable boats to illegally intrude, attempting to deliver supplies to the illegally "grounded" warship. Naturally, we resolutely prevented them.

Because what the Philippines transported were not ordinary supplies.

Of course, the Philippines has always said that the supplies it delivered to the USS Sierra Madre landing ship were all humanitarian supplies.

For example, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Romualdez recently claimed that the Philippines did not "reinforce" the old warship. "This is a wreck, a World War II ship that has been there since the 1990s, so it needs to be repaired. We are just doing a humanitarian thing and giving these people a decent place because they are stationed there."

I saw that even foreign media such as Radio France Internationale could not help but "reveal" that "people familiar with the situation said that the Philippine military secretly carried out the reinforcement of the 'Sierra Madre' to extend its service life."

Please note that this is not what the Chinese side said, but was disclosed by Western media.

Moreover, this time China also discovered that the Philippines was trying to transport weapons, as evidenced by the widely reported fact that China boarded and inspected a Philippine ship and seized eight high-powered guns.

I noticed that there was a question and answer session like this at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference on June 20.

AFP reporter asked: Regarding the conflict between Chinese and Philippine ships near Ren'ai Reef, China said that the Chinese Coast Guard did not take direct measures against Philippine personnel. Later, the Philippine military released a new video of the incident, saying that Chinese personnel fired tear gas, destroyed Philippine equipment and wielded machetes. Is the Philippines' description of the incident true? Can the spokesperson introduce the specific measures taken by the Chinese Coast Guard?

Spokesperson Lin Jian immediately responded: The Philippines' statement is completely a distortion of the truth and a blaming of the wrong. Ren'ai Reef is part of China's Nansha Islands and is Chinese territory. The Philippines illegally invaded the waters of Ren'ai Reef without China's permission, which violated international law and the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. It is a sheer unreasonable provocation.

He went on to say: What's more, the Philippines' action was not a humanitarian supply at all. The Philippine ships not only smuggled construction materials, but also smuggled weapons and equipment, deliberately rammed Chinese ships, and Philippine personnel also splashed water and threw objects at Chinese law enforcement personnel. Such practices have obviously exacerbated tensions at sea and seriously threatened the safety of Chinese personnel and ships. China's necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty are legitimate, reasonable, professional and restrained, and beyond reproach.

2. The Philippine ship was not carrying humanitarian supplies at all.

3. The Philippine ships also carried construction materials and weapons and equipment.

4. Philippine ships also deliberately rammed, splashed water, and threw objects.

5. I took necessary steps, exercised professional restraint, and was above reproach.

First, the Philippines is very anxious about the stranded warship, which is about to age and disintegrate.

This is an old ship. It was formerly an American tank landing ship during World War II. It was commissioned in 1944 and transferred to the Philippines in 1976.

I remember that in May 1999, it was the day when the United States bombed our embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Philippines quietly "stationed" the ship on the Ren'ai Reef on the grounds of so-called mechanical failure.

25 years later, the warship has become rusty and difficult to maintain.

Therefore, the Philippines is eager to reinforce, and even does not rule out lying and smuggling construction materials in an attempt to maintain the fact of sitting on the stall.

Second, there is no denying that the Philippines’ adventure was instigated by the United States.

I saw that the article in Radio France Internationale revealed that the US military had also drafted some plans. "According to several people familiar with the matter, the US Indo-Pacific Command proposed last year to send army engineers to strengthen the warship, but the proposal was rejected."

"Because some officials believe that this is too risky and the Philippines wants to handle the situation itself."

But the Philippines’ latest adventure was clearly instigated by the United States and is exactly what the United States wants.

Needless to say, the Philippines is playing both hands very skillfully.

On the one hand, they pretended to be pitiful and repeatedly claimed that they were only transporting humanitarian supplies; on the other hand, they concealed the truth and smuggled construction materials and even weapons.

As mentioned earlier, the United States has been planning and helping the Philippines to reinforce the damaged ship.

As some Americans have claimed, if the Philippines cannot achieve this, it is not ruled out that US ships and aircraft will escort Philippine ships, or even that US ships and helicopters will directly provide supplies to the damaged ships.

The United States is no longer pretending and does not rule out the possibility of taking action directly.

But doing so will 100% bring greater risks, and the United States is definitely weighing this issue.

Third, the Philippines should think twice about what to do next.

I have said before that even during this maritime friction, China still maintained sufficient restraint.

It's very simple. If other countries did this to the Hawaiian Islands, how would Americans react? Can Americans exercise restraint?

It is still Han Feizi's famous saying: A country that is small but does not humble itself, has little strength but does not fear the strong, is unreasonable but insults its powerful neighbors, is greedy and stubborn but makes bad friends, is doomed to perish.

Han Feizi's words have a specific historical background. In modern society, all countries are equal, big or small.

But let’s look at history, and more importantly, at the present time. How many countries are Han Feizi’s words right?

China-Philippines relations are standing at a crossroads. If we take a few more steps, we may be facing a cliff.