Taiwan authorities delivered an ultimatum late Saturday night, demanding that the Philippine government apologize to Taiwan, compensate the family of the victim and bring the coast guards responsible to justice. The strongly worded statement required a positive response in 72 hours, or the Taiwan authorities would recall their representative to Philippines, ask the Philippine representative in Taipei to leave and freeze all applications of Filipino laborers.

However, the ultimatum, which was supposed to carry a stark warning, has seemingly been weakened. The 72-hour deadline, which will fall after the Philippines' mid-term election held yesterday, probably shows mercy to the Philippine government.

The Philippines, like a bull in a china shop, has been fussing with Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland in recent years. But a year ago, the Philippines paid a painful price during a naval face-off with the Chinese mainland at Huangyan Island.

With little regard for diplomacy, the Philippines has shown its lack of understanding of regional geopolitics and the utter populist streak to its diplomacy with its strategic nearsightedness.

Diplomacy should be based on a comprehensive set of strategic considerations. But the tricky and covert actions that several East Asian countries have resorted to have devaluated the level of East Asian diplomacy.

This leaves China with a contradictory and unpleasant choice. It has to trade barbs with the Philippines and Japan, which are not likely to be prominent security concerns for China in the future. But China's counterstrikes don't help the development priorities of the country.

Besides, the increasing impact of modern media, such as the Internet, has blurred China's top security concerns, resulting in a focus shift of China's national diplomacy.

National security does not only need to guarantee a well-protected country, but also to transmit a sense of security to the public. This is critical to Chinese populace.

Some diplomatic strategists argue that China should be generous throughout the fuss made by its neighbors, focusing on national development instead of being bothered by trivia. But this is too idealistic as Chinese society is not that patient to begin with.

In fact, the design of an overarching diplomatic strategy can be easier than settling thorny frictions. Great-power diplomacy, which has been given a more complicated connotation in recent times, has made it impossible for all international conflicts to be dealt with according to a "macro strategy." But an aggregation of stand-alone actions will likely make the world as fickle as the weather.