Manila will have to bear the consequences

This is an editorial from China Daily.

China has urged the Philippines to immediately stop intruding into its territorial waters and to cease its provocations, warning that it will be responsible for all the consequences arising from its actions if it doesn't do so.

The warning came after Philippine Coast Guard vessels illegally intruded into the waters adjacent to Xianbin Reef and Ren'ai Reef in the South China Sea early on Monday morning without China's permission.

According to the China Coast Guard, it took control measures after two Philippine Coast Guard vessels illegally intruded into the waters around Xianbin Reef. During the incident, there was a coming together of a Philippine and Chinese vessel. After being turned away by the China Coast Guard, the Philippine Coast Guard ship, defying warnings from the Chinese side and disregarding route control, intruded into the waters around Ren'ai Reef several hours later.

To condemn and expose Manila's reckless moves, the China Coast Guard issued four consecutive statements and released video footage of the incidents on Monday morning.

Manila's latest antics show it is casting its greedy eyes on China's Xianbin Reef, making it a new flashpoint in the South China Sea, along with Ren'ai Reef and Huangyan Island.

Since mid-April, the Philippine coast guard's BRP Teresa Magbanua has been illegally anchored in the lagoon of Xianbin Reef. The Philippine side has kept supplying it and sending other vessels to intrude into adjacent waters since then.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson responding to a question on the vessel on Friday said that China has protested through diplomatic channels and asked the Philippines to stop its infringement activities and to withdraw the vessel from the lagoon of Xianbin Reef. Developments are being closely monitored, and the authorities will take resolute measures to safeguard the country's sovereignty, territorial integrity and maritime rights and interests, and uphold the sanctity of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Just before Monday's incident, it was reported that the Philippine Coast Guard intended to send another large ship to reinforce its illegal presence at Xianbin Reef by turning it into a floating platform, from which it could continue its malicious attempt to seize the Chinese maritime territory. The Philippines is apparently trying to repeat at Xianbin Reef the old trick it played at Ren'ai Reef. In 1999, Manila deliberately grounded a World War II-era warship on China's Ren'ai Reef and stationed troops on it, thus beginning its more than two decades' illegal occupation of the Chinese reef.

Manila should be warned its malicious intention to infringe upon China's sovereignty and maritime interests will not succeed. The Chinese law enforcement authorities are stepping up their countermeasures in response to the escalated provocations from the Philippines.

The Philippine side's repeated provocations have violated the temporary arrangement between China and the Philippines on the supply of daily necessities to the illegally grounded Philippine vessel at Ren'ai Reef. What Manila is doing shows it has little sincerity in upholding the recent agreement reached between the two sides to reduce tensions in the waters.

Last week, Philippines' Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro said the understanding with China did not compromise the Philippines' South China Sea position and could be re-evaluated if needed. Such rhetoric is not only an attempt to exploit China's goodwill but also erodes Manila's own credibility.

Since last year, the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines have heated up because Manila, backed by outside players, has gone back on its words and chosen to stage one provocation after another. Manila's antics are consuming China's patience fast and pushing the situation in the waters closer to breaking point.

The China Coast Guard will resolutely safeguard the country's core interests. And it has made clear that it will not hesitate to carry out law enforcement activities in China's jurisdiction as required.