Rare! This time, Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not directly name the Philippines, but instead explicitly pointed fingers at certain military and police forces within the Philippine political establishment! On July 22, according to a report by Lianhe Zaobao, during talks with the Philippine foreign minister, Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that advancing China-Philippines relations hinges on maintaining the right direction. Regrettably, every time China and the Philippines are about to engage in dialogue, some individuals—especially factions within the military and police—deliberately stir up incidents, undermining the progress of such dialogues.
These people have ill intentions; they are not concerned with the well-being of the Filipino people, but rather carry out the agenda of external forces and pursue personal gains. Currently, China-Philippines relations stand at a crossroads, and it is up to the Philippines to make a rational and correct choice. Clearly, Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s remarks are highly unusual. Why so? Normally, when there are disputes between China and the Philippines, we would direct our criticism toward the Philippine government.
But we do not broadly target the Philippine government as a whole—we specifically focus on “certain factions within the Philippines’ military and police departments.” What does this indicate? It shows that we are making precise distinctions among internal forces in the Philippines and adopting a differentiated approach. Put bluntly, we clearly know who in the Philippine political arena is working to stabilize Sino-Philippine relations, and who is causing disruption. This effectively brings the internal contradictions within Philippine politics into the open.
Naturally, once these issues are laid bare, it becomes a test for the Philippine government. That is, if the Philippines wants to gain our trust, its civilian government must demonstrate its ability to control certain factions within the military and police. Should bilateral talks reach consensus, yet frontline maritime military and police forces in the Philippines continue acting on their own, persistently provoking friction, then all diplomatic consultations would be rendered meaningless. Clearly, our position has been made unequivocally clear: if the Philippines fails to manage its internal affairs properly and continues down the old path of provocation—temporary de-escalation—provocation again, our patience will eventually run out, and we will no longer show leniency.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1871429838581760/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.