Browbeater must be stopped

There they go again.

The Chinese state media accused the Philippines on Monday of repeatedly infringing on China’s territory in the West Philippine Sea Beijing calls its territory.

The Chinese media have raised the board that Manila was spreading false information and colluding with extraterritorial forces to cause trouble.

Such absence of honesty on the part of Beijing, who sent Coast Guard vessels this month and used water cannons against three Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels on a humanitarian mission providing fuel and groceries to Filipinos fishing at Bajo de Masinloc, which is not Chinese territory.

During a telephone conversation, the Chinese side said Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a “frank and candid exchange” on issues affecting Manila and Beijing.

Manalo and Wang agreed to actively create “favorable conditions” for the next Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea, the last in March.

Wang said China is ready to resolve differences through dialogue and consultation but warned if the Philippines “misjudges the situation, goes its own way, or even colludes with ill-intentioned external forces to continue to stir up troubles, China will defend its rights in accordance with law and respond resolutely.”

Manila earlier asked Beijing to stop lingering in waters around Ayungin Shoal, a feature in the South China Sea within the country’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

This month alone, it protested the Chinese Coast Guard’s aggressive actions – boldly glossed over by Beijing – that led to collision, illegal shadowing, and undue use of water cannons during the country’s rotation and resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal on Dec 10.

Tensions between Beijing and Manila have heightened in recent months, with both trading accusations over a spate of run-ins in the South China Sea, with China claiming most of it under its mythical ten-dash line.

Parts of the area are also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and Indonesia. An international tribunal in 2016 invalidated China’s claim in a ruling on a case brought by the Philippines, which Beijing rejects.

We agree with suggestions from some national legislators that China’s browbeating demeanor be stopped.

One of them, and we rally behind him, is Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, who urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to enter into more defense and security cooperation agreements not only with Japan but also with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and even South Korea.

“We should negotiate and enter into Visiting Forces Agreements, like the one we have with the United States, in the face of heightened threats from China, the latest of which is the use of a military-grade laser on our Coast Guard vessel, which temporarily blinded its personnel,” he said.

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