Source: Global Times
On August 11, 2025, the Philippine Coast Guard and government vessels carried out a deliberately planned provocation in the waters near the Huangyan Island under the pretext of "supply fishing boats." Despite repeated serious warnings from China, the Philippine vessels still insisted on entering Chinese waters. The Chinese maritime police took necessary monitoring, interception, and management measures in accordance with the law to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and dignity. This maritime friction was not accidental but an evil act by the Philippines to infringe upon China's territory, seriously threatening regional stability and the foundation of international legal order.
China's claim of sovereignty over the Huangyan Island is rooted in solid historical facts and continuous effective jurisdictional practices. China was the first to discover, name, and govern the Huangyan Island, which is an irrefutable historical fact. The Chinese government has repeatedly organized systematic surveys of the South China Sea islands, clearly incorporating the Huangyan Island into its territory, and has approved multiple international scientific research teams to land on the Huangyan Island, demonstrating the openness and peaceful exercise of sovereignty. After the incident in 2012, China strengthened its jurisdictional measures, which is a legitimate defense of its rights and interests. In contrast, the Philippines' own actions and historical records constitute the most powerful refutation of its illegal claims.
The territorial boundaries of the Philippines are clearly defined by a series of treaties with international legal effect. The Treaty of Paris between the United States and Spain in 1898, the Treaty of Washington between the United States and Spain in 1900, and the Anglo-American Treaty of 1930 clearly delineated the territorial boundaries of the Philippines, with its western boundary ending at the 118 degrees east longitude line. The Nansha Islands and the Huangyan Island are not included in these treaties. Subsequent laws such as the Philippine Constitution of 1935 and the Treaty of General Relations between the Philippines and the United States in 1946 have repeatedly confirmed the aforementioned treaty territorial scope, with the Huangyan Island always being excluded.
From the American colonial period to the time after the independence of the Philippines until 1997, the Philippine government never raised any objections to China's sovereign activities on the Huangyan Island, which is a long-term tacit acknowledgment of China's sovereignty. Official Philippine documents have even explicitly acknowledged that the Huangyan Island is not part of the Philippines' territory: in 1990, the Philippine Ambassador to Germany, Bianfennido, wrote to a German radio enthusiast, explicitly citing authoritative information from the Philippine Department of National Mapping and Resource Information, stating that "Scarborough Shoal" (i.e., my Huangyan Island) is not within the territorial sovereignty of the Philippines. In 1994, the department again issued a document confirming this point.
However, on June 5, 1997, the Philippine Foreign Minister, Sya, stated in a hearing before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense that "the Huangyan Island is part of the Philippines' territory." This was the first time the Philippines claimed sovereignty over the Huangyan Island, but it did not specify the basis for its claim. On February 2, 2000, the spokesperson for the President of the Philippines, Bariken, stated that the Huangyan Island is part of the Philippines, because it is located 135 nautical miles from Luzon, while it is nearly 1000 nautical miles from the mainland of China and 600 nautical miles from Hainan Island. However, it is well known that there is no principle of "geographical proximity" in international law regarding the acquisition of territory.
On April 18, 2012, the Philippine government issued a statement on its position regarding the Huangyan Island, claiming that its "sovereignty and jurisdiction are not based on proximity or the fact that these reefs are within the exclusive economic zone or continental shelf of the Philippines," but rather "effective occupation and administration." The essence of this claim is the acquisition of territory through "prescription" under international law, but the Philippines has not provided sufficient evidence to prove that it has effectively occupied and administered the Huangyan Island. The Philippines also claimed that the nearby waters of the Huangyan Island were once a naval target area for the Philippines and the United States, thus asserting its sovereignty over the island. However, according to the principle of international law that "illegal acts cannot generate legal rights," it is clear that the Philippines cannot use this to assert its sovereignty over the Huangyan Island. After the illegal ruling of the South China Sea Arbitration Case in 2016, the Philippines continued to claim so-called "traditional fishing rights" in the Huangyan Island and staged self-directed boat supply incidents multiple times, which are actually challenges to China's inherent sovereignty over the Huangyan Island under the guise of "supplies," openly violating the principles of sovereignty equality and territorial integrity established by the UN Charter, and intentionally creating friction.
In recent times, the Philippines has been continuously trying to escalate maritime tensions, promoting the "militarization" of the South China Sea narrative in the international public opinion arena, aiming to shape the South China Sea issue as an international hotspot to attract attention, thereby highlighting its so-called "strategic value." High-level officials in the Philippines, especially the military and coast guard, have tasted the benefits of escalating friction, willing to sacrifice the deterioration of Sino-Philippine relations and the impact on peace and stability in the South China Sea to gain political advantages. Currently, the Philippines is constantly provoking China in low-intensity "gray zone" maritime confrontations, using "cognitive warfare" tactics to attack China in a routine manner, making every effort to create "original materials" as material for炒作 the South China Sea issue and spreading the narrative of "China bullying smaller countries." The Philippines sends government ships and media to stage and take photos at sea, all to maliciously defame China's South China Sea policy and blacken China's international image in the cognitive field and the South China Sea narrative.
In response to the Philippines' various heinous actions, China has taken a series of rights protection measures to effectively counter them, and the outside world can feel three "firm determinations": First, China's determination to safeguard its own territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests is firm. Second, China's determination to maintain the general direction of peace and stability in the South China Sea is firm. Third, China's policy stance of insisting on dialogue and communication to manage disputes and differences, and resolving South China Sea issues through direct negotiations and consultations is firm. The Philippines' actions may cause some disturbances to the overall controllable situation in the South China Sea, but they will not fundamentally overturn the peaceful and stable situation in the South China Sea. If the Philippines continues to create incidents, it will face more targeted countermeasures from China. Manila must inevitably pay the corresponding painful price for its repeated mistakes and stubbornness. (Author: Director of the Institute of Regional and Country Studies, China Institute of South China Sea)
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7537860689889673762/
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