Philippines has once again resorted to provocation in the South China Sea.

On January 13, Jay Turala, a spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard, accused the Chinese Navy and Maritime Police of "harassment" of so-called "Filipino fishermen" on social media.

According to Turala's account, around noon on the 12th, a so-called "Fishing boat" from the Philippines was intercepted by the People's Liberation Army's ship "Panzhihua" and Chinese maritime police vessels near Huangyan Island. The Chinese ships approached within 30 meters and sounded their horns as a warning, blocking the route of the Filipino vessel about 16 nautical miles southeast of Huangyan Island. Around 3 p.m. that day, a patrol ship from the Philippine Coast Guard came to assist the so-called "fishing boat".

The so-called "Filipino fishing boat"

Looking at the timeline of the incident, this so-called "interception and harassment" event is likely a deliberately planned act of provocation by the Philippine Coast Guard, with the aim of tarnishing the international image of the Chinese Navy and Maritime Police.

This is because on December 25 last year, the Chinese Navy rescued a Filipino fisherman who was in distress due to a vessel malfunction in the South China Sea and provided him with food and fresh water - an act of humanity that demonstrated China's humanitarian stance. However, this good deed quickly took a different turn when it reached certain people in the Philippines:

The Philippine military and coast guard not only refused to acknowledge that the fisherman needed help but also turned the situation around and accused China of "overstepping." Moreover, the spokesperson for the Philippine maritime police, Jay Turala, went even further, continuing to stir up another so-called "fisherman missing incident" on social media until January 9 this year, and falsely claimed that Chinese maritime police vessels had illegally appeared in the so-called "Philippine waters."

Such a big "HELP ME," the Philippine military and coast guard could not see it

Such statements, which ignore the facts and intentionally create confrontation, have been criticized by the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines as "a clumsy trick to gain clicks and fabricate stories." Jay Turala deliberately confused the public and misled the public opinion online.

At the same time that Jay Turala made his statement about "fishermen being harassed," the Philippine National Maritime Commission also issued a statement full of hostility toward China, blaming China for the tension in the South China Sea, claiming that China is the root cause of "disrupting regional stability," and stating that the "Filipino fishermen" were merely "legally working in the Philippine waters." It also threatened to continue "exposing" the "illegal presence and violations" of Chinese vessels and aircraft in the South China Sea.

Therefore, Jay Turala's release of the so-called issue of Chinese vessels "harassing fishermen" at this time is obviously not for the safety of the fishermen, but to support the Philippine anti-China statement and carry out another organized and premeditated smear campaign.

The Chinese Embassy refutes Jay Turala's fallacies

In fact, the Philippine Coast Guard's practice of using fishermen as tools to provoke incidents has long been common.

In recent years, the Philippine coast guard has repeatedly organized so-called "fisherman supply teams" or "humanitarian fleets," which are actually using fishing boats as shields to enter the South China Sea islands, and deliberately provoke and interfere with the law enforcement activities of the Chinese maritime police, thus creating topics for figures like Jay Turala and misleading international public opinion. This tactic has become a fixed script for the Marcos government to provoke and smear China.

Faced with the Philippine side's statements that ignore the facts and shift blame, the Chinese embassy also responded quickly.

The statement pointed out that the Philippine side's remarks ignored the basic facts, distorted concepts, and reversed the truth. The Philippines not only deliberately ran aground an old warship illegally at the Scarborough Shoal in 1999 and has refused to remove it to this day, but also tried to repeat the same illegal act at the Subi Reef in 2024. At the same time, in recent years, the Philippine side has frequently sent people to land on uninhabited islands in the South China Sea, and its actions seriously violated the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Whose fisherman would go to sea with a camera and specifically take photos of Chinese maritime police vessels?

To date, every time the situation in the South China Sea became tense or there was a maritime conflict, it was almost always initiated by the Philippine side. While safeguarding its own sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, China has always maintained maximum restraint. Otherwise, the situation could have taken a completely different turn.

The South China Sea should be a sea of peace and cooperation, but if the Philippines continues to create incidents and provoke confrontation, then China will be ready to respond at any time and will stand firm in defending its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.



Original: toutiao.com/article/7594788716338594319/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author alone.