At a press briefing last Oct. 30, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense, Zhang Xiaogang said:
“For a period of time, the Philippine side has launched frequent infringements and provocations against China, stirring up troubles at sea… It has attempted to make waves at sea by soliciting external support, blackmailing and pressuring China through bluffing acts… We urge the Philippine side to mend your ways before it’s too late… Come back to the right track of dialogue and consultation, and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
A few important questions need to be asked. Which country is infringing on the lawful EEZ of the other, as confirmed by the binding decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration – China or the Philippines? Which country continuously defies the court’s decision, the rule of law and the statutes of UNCLOS? Which country is guilty of provocations such as the use of water cannons, ramming vessels and unilaterally declaring portions of the disputed waters as so-called marine sanctuaries? Which country is guilty of escalation by virtue of its illegal occupation and deployment of gray zone tactics? Which country is guilty of blackmail and applying pressure – whether economic or through brute coercion?
China’s rebuke of the Philippines is a low-blow attempt to shift blame while trampling on Philippine sovereignty. And to lecture the Philippines to “mend its ways” is not only disingenuous but deeply insulting. It reeks of bad faith, bad taste and bad diplomacy. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro was right to reject dialogue until China shows “a semblance of good faith.”
Between China and the Philippines, who really needs to mend their ways?
From antiquity to modern times, history is littered with nations that sought greatness not through harmony but through provocation, deceit and dominion. Ancient Persia, under Darius I, stirred unrest from the Aegean to the Indus. Rome, under Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, violently devoured its weaker neighbors in pursuit of imperial glory.
Today, China joins their ranks. China wields unrest on the world not with religion or ideology but through calculated gray-zone aggression, espionage and creeping territorial encroachments. China has emerged as the great agitator of our time, albeit modernized, refined and stealthy.
Let us count the ways. These are just some of the countries, apart from the Philippines, which have been on the receiving end of Chinese coercion and gray zone tactics.
Taiwan. For years, China has waged relentless gray-zone warfare to pressure and intimidate Taiwan. These tactics include repeated incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and territorial waters, swarming its airspace with fighter jets, deploying maritime militias to encircle its islands, conducting war games, launching cyberattacks, spreading disinformation and aggressively isolating Taiwan diplomatically.
Nepal/Bhutan. In the Himalayas, tiny Bhutan and fragile Nepal have faced an increasingly assertive China. In Bhutan, Chinese troops built military outposts in disputed areas near Doklam. In Nepal, villagers report boundary pillars mysteriously creeping forward as Chinese forces slyly expand. Behind closed doors, Beijing wields economic and diplomatic coercion, turning ancient mountain frontiers into battlegrounds.
India. China and India have a long-standing territorial dispute over the Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin regions. Although partial disengagement was achieved in 2024, tensions remain due to ongoing infrastructure buildup, sustained troop deployments and China’s provocative release of its 2023 “standard map,” which claims large swaths of Indian territory.
China has employed creeping tactics, including the construction of dual-use infrastructure and cyberattacks targeting India’s power grids. More concerning is China’s suspected interference in the India-Pakistan conflict, where it supported Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. Reports assert that China was also caught conducting espionage on Indian military activities and unlawfully mapping the seabed topography in the Bay of Bengal without India’s consent.
Japan. China’s territorial dispute with Japan centers on the Senkaku Islands – a territory that has been discovered, populated and administered by Japan since the late 19th century. The islands are believed to sit atop significant undersea oil and gas reserves.
China has engaged in persistent provocations, including repeated incursions by its coast guard as well as the deployment of maritime militia. In 2023, Beijing launched a coordinated disinformation campaign accusing Japan of illegally dumping wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
South Korea. The territorial dispute between China and South Korea centers around the Socotra Rock, a submerged reef in the East China Sea. China uses gray-zone tactics like maritime patrols, surveillance ship incursions, aerial overflights, ADIZ overlap assertions and diplomatic protests to undermine South Korea’s sovereignty. It has also engaged in illegal fishing and building artificial platforms near Korean EEZ.
Australia. China’s conflict with Australia stems from Canberra’s pushback against Chinese interference, cyber espionage and assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Tensions spiked after Australia called for a probe on the Wuhan virus. China responded with trade boycotts and suspected cyberattacks on government systems.
Last February, three Chinese warships entered Australia’s EEZ near Sydney and later near Tasmania and Perth, without prior notification. The vessels were reported to have conducted unannounced live-fire drills. Though technically in international waters, the incursion was condemned as a provocative tactic meant to intimidate and test Australia’s response readiness.
The European Union. Tensions persist over China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, product dumping and intellectual property theft. In 2023, China was accused of sabotaging the gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, as well as severing undersea fiber-optic cables linking Helsinki to Germany. In 2024, China was again implicated in the shearing of a submarine cable connecting Lithuania to Sweden.
China’s actions have cast it as a destabilizing force on the global stage – one that fuels tension and erodes peace, development and the sovereignty of others, all in pursuit of its ambitions.
So I ask again, between the Philippines and China, who needs to mend their ways?
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Email: andrew_rs6@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan