Photo: Website of Chinese Foreign Ministry

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro on Wednesday in Manila at the latter's request on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus foreign ministers' meetings. Wang elaborated on China's solemn position and lodged a strong protest over the violent act of Philippine personnel in colliding with a Chinese law enforcement vessel at Ren'ai Jiao.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that over the past few years, China-Philippines relations have continued to face difficulties and challenges, which is clearly not in the interests of either side and is even more detrimental to the Philippines' own development. Facing a world marked by turbulence and transformation, the two countries should have worked together to safeguard the hard-won peace and development in the region. However, the Philippines has gone against the efforts of other regional countries and become a source of disruption to regional peace and stability.

Facts have shown that allowing external forces to interfere and intervene, while deliberately hyping and expanding maritime differences, will only reduce the Philippines to a tool for others to use, Wang said. If the Philippines attempts to provoke trouble by relying on countries outside the region, it will ultimately have to bear the consequences of its own actions.

Wang said it is regrettable that whenever China and the Philippines are about to engage in dialogue, certain individuals in the Philippines, especially some forces within the military and police, deliberately create incidents to undermine the dialogue process. These people are not acting for the well-being of the Philippine people, but rather to carry out the will of external forces and pursue their own personal interests, he said. China-Philippines relations now stand at a crossroads, and it is up to the Philippine side to make the correct and rational choice regarding the future direction of bilateral ties, Wang added.

Wang stressed that the key to developing China-Philippines relations is to stay on the right course. China has never been a security threat to the Philippines and has never invaded or colonized the Philippines in history. The existence of territorial and maritime delimitation disputes between the two countries is an objective fact. China has always been committed to managing differences and stabilizing the situation through bilateral dialogue and consultation.

Lazaro said that the Philippines and China have a long history of exchanges and are neighbors that cannot be moved apart. The Philippine side consistently adheres to the one-China policy and honors the commitments made upon the establishment of diplomatic relations. There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, she said.

The Philippine side hopes to seek a proper solution to maritime issues through dialogue and strive to improve bilateral relations, Lazaro said.