The Philippines announced in advance that Wang Yi would attend the ASEAN meeting and hold bilateral talks.

Philippines unilaterally released the information! On July 20, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs stated that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi would attend the ASEAN meeting in Manila and hold bilateral talks with the Philippine Foreign Minister. Clearly, we have not yet announced anything, yet the Philippines preemptively disclosed this information—this is truly quite unexpected. Logically speaking, given the deterioration of China-Philippines relations and the recent intense confrontation over the so-called South China Sea arbitration issue, the Philippines may have little motivation to engage in talks with us.

But why is the Philippines doing this? This likely stems from three considerations. First, as the host nation of this conference, the Philippines is proactively leaking information to project an international image of actively seeking dialogue and willing to manage differences. After all, other ASEAN countries do not wish for the South China Sea to become a battleground. The Philippines also does not want these nations to misunderstand it as solely pursuing confrontation and escalating tensions, thus avoiding isolation within the region.

Second, with deteriorating China-Philippines relations, private trade and agricultural cooperation between the two countries have continued to cool down. Facing significant domestic inflation and employment pressures, the Philippines clearly understands the cost of confrontation. Therefore, while maintaining confrontational postures and stirring up tensions, it also intends to moderately ease tensions at times, preventing a complete breakdown of relations. Moreover, pragmatic voices favoring China hold considerable influence within the Philippine political arena.

Third, the Philippines is evidently attempting to balance between the United States and China, hedging its bets on both sides. It is simultaneously sending signals to the U.S., while also hoping to gain economic benefits from cooperation with us. Thus, the Philippines' public statements are both symbolic gestures and pursuit of tangible interests.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1871203771580427/

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