[Text/Observer Liu Chenghui] Recently, the Philippines has constantly created friction and launched provocations through various small actions in the South China Sea. Philippine President Marcos announced at the graduation ceremony of the Philippine Military Academy on May 18 that the Philippines would "vigorously defend the territory" in the face of "invaders". The foreign media believe that Marcos is "almost undisguised" pointing to the increasingly tense relations with China due to maritime disputes.
According to media reports such as Reuters and Agence France Presse, Marcos asked military graduates in his speech to "ensure the security of our people's homes and territories", and said that "the stronger our defense against threats, the more stable democracy will be".
Marcos said: "We will strongly defend our territory against invaders who do not respect our territorial integrity." He also said, "Our behavior must always be guided by the law and our responsibility as law-abiding members of the international family." The Philippines should "resist the threats of continuous development, which hurt our people and erode social and political trust.".
On May 18, Marcos attended the graduation ceremony of the military academy and delivered a speech to more than 200 graduates/Philippine News Agency
Reuters mentioned that Marcos did not specify the identity of the "intruder", but recently the confrontation between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea issue has been escalating, which "almost without disguise" points to the increasingly tense relations with China due to maritime disputes.
Since the Marcos government came to power, the Philippines has made provocative actions in the South China Sea region for many times, leading to the continued warming of the regional situation.
In early May, Philippine coast guard ships and official ships invaded the waters adjacent to Huangyan Island, and the Chinese coast guard drove the Philippine ships away according to law. The Philippines repeatedly violated and provoked, but Marcos tried to reverse the truth, claiming that the Philippines had no intention of increasing tensions in the South China Sea and would not "follow China's example" in using water cannon and other equipment in the South China Sea.
On May 16, a number of Philippine ships illegally gathered in the waters adjacent to Huangyan Island to carry out activities unrelated to normal fishery production. The Chinese coast guard strengthened on-site surveillance and evidence collection/surging images
Just recently, a "non-governmental organization" in the Philippines also wantonly played tricks on rushing into China's Huangyan Island. However, according to the AFP report on May 16, this organization named "This is our" (Atin Ito) gave up its plan to continue to approach Huangyan Island. A spokesman for the organization said on the 16th that its "advance team" had distributed fuel and other help to Filipino fishermen 46-56 kilometers from Huangyan Island a day earlier, and announced that "the task has been completed".
In response to the news that Philippine vessels tried to break into Huangyan Island, our Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin stressed at a regular press conference on the 15th that Huangyan Island is an inherent territory of China, and China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Island and its surrounding waters. In 2016, China made good faith arrangements for a small number of Philippine small fishing vessels to conduct normal fishing activities in the waters around Huangyan Island, At the same time, it manages and supervises the activities of Philippine fishermen according to law.
"If the Philippines abuses China's goodwill and infringes on China's territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction, China will safeguard its rights and counter measures in accordance with the law, and the relevant responsibilities and consequences are entirely borne by the Philippines," Wang Wenbin said.
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