As soon as the Philippine legislator left office, China immediately announced sanctions, as he had previously led the promotion of the "Marine Area Law."

On the first day of July, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced that sanctions would be imposed on former Philippine Senator Tornetino.

Tornetino served as a Philippine senator from 2019 to 2025, chaired the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee from 2022 to 2023, and has been serving as the leader of the majority party in the Senate since last year, playing an important role in the Philippine Congress for a long time. However, he failed to win re-election in this year's midterm elections and had to leave the Philippine Senate.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that over the past period, some individual politicians in the Philippines have made reckless remarks on a series of China-related issues for their own interests, damaging Sino-Philippine bilateral relations and China's interests. In view of Tornetino's malicious actions, the Chinese government has decided to impose sanctions on him, prohibiting his entry into mainland China and the Hong Kong and Macao regions.

Former Philippine Senator Tornetino

Although the public may not know much about this Philippine senator, the law he led and promoted is well known—The Marine Area Law.

Last November, the Philippines announced the introduction of the "Marine Area Law." The core content of this law is to strengthen control over the South China Sea shipping routes and channels, stipulating them through legislation, and they cannot be changed arbitrarily. The only one who can change them is the President of the Philippines.

This law aims to establish the so-called "illegal jurisdiction" of the Philippines over the South China Sea waters and islands by strengthening control over the South China Sea shipping routes and channels, and it uses this as the basis for the Philippines' claim of sovereignty over the South China Sea waters and islands.

At that time, China made a strong response, stating that the Philippines' move was an attempt to solidify the so-called result of the South China Sea arbitration case through domestic legislation, seriously infringing on China's interests. China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea will not be affected by this Philippine domestic law.

However, it needs to be emphasized that the so-called "South China Sea Arbitration Case" itself violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. In other words, the domestic law introduced by the Philippines is based on an illegal "ruling." It attempts to achieve the goal of the illegal ruling through domestic legislation.

According to a series of treaties, including the Treaty of Paris, the Treaty between the United States and Spain concerning the Cession of the Outer Islands of the Philippines, and the Treaty for the Delimitation of the Boundary between British North Borneo and the American Philippines, the territory of the Philippines has been determined. China's Huangyan Island and the Nansha Islands are not within the territory of the Philippines, and the Philippines has no right to claim sovereignty over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

This law seriously infringes upon China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. China will certainly take action to safeguard its national territorial integrity and sovereignty. The sanctions against Tornetino are also based on this foundation.

However, to put it another way, the Philippines introducing this legislation is clearly not a domestic initiative. Behind it is someone "higher up," because globally, only a few countries can engage in strategic thinking. The likely instigator behind it is the United States, which may also be one of the reasons why China imposed sanctions on Tornetino.

In addition, Tornetino has repeatedly created a "public opinion war" against China for his own interests. Before the Philippine midterm elections, Tornetino claimed that the Chinese embassy signed a contract with a Philippine marketing company to spread pro-China statements and create fake news in the Philippines. He presented a check for 930,000 Philippine pesos, which could not prove anything, claiming "this is the evidence that China is manufacturing fake news in the Philippines."

Sino-Philippine Relations

After that, Tornetino did not provide any substantial evidence to prove that China had created any news or released any content through the Philippine marketing company. Obviously, this was again a means for Tornetino to win the midterm elections and gain political benefits.

Given Tornetino's actions, China must impose sanctions on him. This is a "warning shot" to Philippine politicians. China is not without means to sanction Philippine politicians; do not take China's kindness for granted as an endless concession.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7521977497299583528/

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