More shaming needed

It then raised the actions of the Philippines as endangering the process for the Code of Conduct, which Beijing always dangles as getting its support.

The ingenious shame campaign against China’s bullying has worked effectively as it admitted that the recent violent skirmish on Ayungin Shoal was its pushback against the “exposure strategy.”

The attack on a supply boat and a Philippine Coast Guard ship near Ayujngin Shoal on Saturday morning immediately received wide condemnation from most nations, putting China again on the defensive.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea operations, criticized China for its “unruly behavior and illegal presence” in the Ayungin Shoal, which falls within the country’s exclusive economic zone under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Tarriela called up the People’s Republic of China for its “unprovoked aggression, coercion, reckless actions, and dangerous maneuvers” against the Philippine vessels conducting a “legitimate” routine and resupply mission for the navy troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre.

Philippine officials have been complaining about Beijing’s duplicity in claiming that it wanted peace, dialogue, and adherence to international law while resorting to an increasingly belligerent policy, including the use of floating barriers near the BRP Sierra Madre to prevent vessels’ entry.

China, through its favorite mouthpiece, cited the shift in President Bongbong Marcos’ strategy when he took office, particularly his adoption of the aggressive transparency approach Beijing referred to as the “exposure strategy.”

It said Marcos is trying to put “China’s normal and legal activities in the South China Sea under the media spotlight.”

Chinese society places a high value on reputation, which it admits has been tarnished before the world.

“Under the ‘exposure strategy,’ videos and photos taken by Filipino journalists near Ren’ai Reef (Ayungin Shoal) will be selected and edited by an information working group to slander China in the international public opinion arena,” according to the Chinese megaphone.

It then sewed up fiction about a working group “composed of personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice, and the National Security Council” of managing the anti-China narrative.

It then mixed in the United States as part of the conspiracy against China.

“The Biden administration has invested a lot of resources in strengthening the US-Philippines alliance and building a small multilateral security mechanism against China,” it claimed.

It then made an incredible claim about the blame for the increasing maritime aggression being on the shoulders of the Philippines.

“What has happened in the West Philippine Sea in the past few months is not that ‘China has become more aggressive’ as the Philippines said, but that the Philippines itself has become more provocative.”

From there, the argument slipped to the point of being ridiculous, saying that Beijing sees the supply of provisions of the platoon of Philippine Marines stationed in the grounded BRP Sierra Madre, which indicated an attempt to illegally stay in Chinese territory.

It then raised the actions of the Philippines as endangering the process for the Code of Conduct, which Beijing always dangles as getting its support.

At the negotiating table, however, it has imposed impossible terms, such as removing international involvement in the negotiations and that its historic rights should be recognized despite the 2016 arbitral ruling, which indicated these were baseless.

Directing the global spotlight on China’s atrocities should continue since it makes the bully think twice before it makes its move.

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Credit belongs to: tribune.net.ph