The Philippines is nothing more than the “cute little submissive” of the US, a Chinese tabloid with close ties to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) said on Tuesday, criticizing Manila for taking part in military exercises with Washington.
The editorial came a day after the Philippines launched giant 10-day war games with the US and Australia, partly aimed as a warning shot to Beijing amid competing claims in the South China Sea, home to vital shipping routes.
“Of all the countries involved in territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the Philippines is the one with the most tricks up its sleeves, but none of its tricks work,” said the editorial in the Global Times, published by the CPP’s mouthpiece the People’s Daily.
“Can anyone believe that China can be bluffed to make compromises when others show off their military muscle? We will simply find it laughable while imagining Philippine personnel stumbling after US forces,” the paper added.
Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the resource-rich and strategically important South China Sea, including areas close to other Asian nations, using a so-called “nine-dash line” that first appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s.
China has expanded its presence in disputed parts of the sea in recent years by embarking on giant reclamation work on reefs and islets, turning some into islands capable of hosting military aircraft landing strips.
Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims.
In efforts to deter China, the militarily weak Philippines has encouraged longtime ally the US to increase its presence in the nation and its coastal waters through expanded and more frequent defense exercises.
However, the Global Times editorial dismissed their effectiveness, saying: “After being the ‘cute little submissive’ of the US all these years, Manila has gained only a handful of secondhand weapons and an empty sense of security, let alone any real enhancement of its army’s combat capability.”
A commentary earlier this year by China’s Xinhua news agency likened the Philippines to a “crying baby” for seeking international support against Beijing’s island-building, denouncing its efforts as “pathetic.”
“I think that China is responsible for the rise of tensions and provocations in the South China Sea,” said Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, during a conference in Jakarta. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III last week said the world should fear China’s actions in the disputed sea, warning they could lead to military conflict.
Philippine military chief of staff General Gregorio Catapang on Monday released what he said were satellite images of recent Chinese construction over seven reefs and shoals in the Spratly archipelago (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the South China Sea, reinforcing images from a US-based company earlier this month.
China rejects criticism of its reclamation and construction works, saying that it has no need to justify activity on its sovereign territory.
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