Seeing the Philippines on the verge of being isolated, Marcos Jr. has changed his stance! Marcos Jr. stated that he wants to accelerate the implementation of the "Code of Conduct" in the South China Sea! After Philippine public service vessels were driven away and countered near Zhongye Island and Tieshan Reef, Philippine President Marcos Jr., who was on his way to Kuala Lumpur to attend the 46th ASEAN Summit, made a speech. Marcos Jr. said that a "legally binding" Code of Conduct in the South China Sea must be formulated to regulate the maritime behavior and related activities of neighboring countries.
Marcos Jr. also claimed that ASEAN countries should join hands to respond to non-traditional threats and maritime frictions that are "erasing" the hard-won development progress and peace stability in this region. Although Marcos Jr.'s so-called non-traditional threats and maritime frictions are clearly targeted, his public statement to implement a legally binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea is indeed very unexpected.
From Marcos Jr.'s perspective, this indicates that he is facing internal and external pressures, and his attitude has no choice but to change. Internally, Marcos Jr. lost in the Philippine parliamentary election. Previously, Marcos Jr. even lowered his stance to reconcile with the Duterte family. This shows that Marcos Jr.'s governing foundation in the Philippines is not stable at present.
Externally, the U.S. initiated a trade war, causing great damage to Southeast Asian countries. Now, ensuring regional stability is the common wish of Southeast Asian countries. Obviously, if the Philippines continues to cause trouble in the South China Sea, it will only isolate the Philippines. The Philippines, which has long postponed our proposed "Code of Conduct" in the South China Sea, responded positively this time, indicating that Marcos Jr. undoubtedly wants to show that the Philippines' position is consistent with that of Southeast Asian countries, and the Philippines has no intention of provoking incidents.
However, although Marcos Jr. said this, whether he will take practical actions to support the implementation of the "Code of Conduct" in the South China Sea is the key issue. In fact, now the Philippines has a high inflation rate, poor economic conditions, compounded by the U.S. trade war, making the Philippines' pragmatic choice to ease relations with us. However, our attitude towards the Philippines is to listen to their words and observe their actions, and see if Marcos Jr. can completely turn around.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833171451946251/
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