China's sovereignty is inviolable over South China Sea issue

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

The Philippine Navy has recently tried to "enforce the law" in the Huangyan Island waters of China, seriously violating China's sovereignty and the consensus of maintaining the peace and stability in the South China Sea and not complicating matters.

China does not hope to see the confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships in Huangyan Island waters. However, the fact indicates that the tense situation is continuing to upgrade and a favorable turn may appear. In fact, many border conflicts and disputes are gradually eased and resolved after collisions and frictions.

For a long time, China has been adhering to the basic principles of "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" and adopting a restrained attitude on the "nibble" of Philippine and other countries in the South China Sea. Through this, China created a peaceful atmosphere in the South China Sea area and also created the condition to further peacefully deal with the South China Sea issue.

In the South China Sea issue, some Western government officials and media ignored the fact and deliberately linked the upgrade of conflicts with the rise of China to create conflicts between China and its neighboring countries. In their views, the South China Sea appears to have reached a tense stage.

Actually, no any large-scale war happened in the South China Sea area over the years. The economy of the area has entered the most active period in history because it shared the benefits from China's peaceful rise. About a half of goods in the world are transported through the South China Sea, and East Asia has become the locomotive of the world economy.

Even the Philippines also share a lot of benefits from China's peaceful development over these years. The calm and peaceful South China Sea created well atmosphere for them to exploit oil and gas resources and consider how they can grab more from China's territorial waters.

The appearance of Chinese ocean surveillance ship sent a clear signal that China will not continue to tolerate the insatiable action. To return to the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" is the only right choice.

The China-Philippines confrontation in the waters of the Huangyan Island may mean a new stage of solving the South China Sea issue. The negotiation of "the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea" with a legal effect has begun brewing and China has proposed to establish the expert group to discuss with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on relevant issues.