Whitewashed ram-raiding with US-made paint: China Daily editorial

Both Japan and the Philippines have maritime disputes with China, and both have a security alliance with the United States, which both have been intent on strengthening. Since the US is seeking to contain China and choke its development, it has encouraged its two allies to kindle a fire under their maritime disputes with China to raise the heat and create sparks.

Emboldened by the US' support, Japan and the Philippines have stepped up their provocative actions infringing upon China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, leaving China with no other option but to respond to their attempted nautical ram-raids with beefed-up law-enforcement measures in relevant waters.

The US, Japan and the Philippines have sought to whitewash their aggressive posturing with the "China threat" paint manufactured by Washington.

In the joint statement released after the inaugural trilateral summit of the three countries in April, the leaders of the US, Japan and the Philippines defended their agreement to enhance military ties to cope with "China's threats", and expressed their "serious concerns" about China's actions to safeguard its sovereignty, which they termed as "dangerous and aggressive behavior" in the South China Sea, and "attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea".

It was perhaps only to be expected therefore that China's alleged assertiveness should be applied with a broad brush as the justification for the new defense pact between Japan and the Philippines, that the Philippine Senate announced it had ratified on Monday, saying it would "enhance the interoperability" between Japanese and Philippine forces. The deal is now awaiting the approval of Japanese lawmakers before it takes effect.

Both Manila and Tokyo have talked up the pact being conducive to regional peace and security, but it not only allows for increased joint combat drills but also gives a green light to the two countries' armed forces being deployed on each other's soil, it is akin to giving two testosterone-addled adolescents matches and a tinderbox.

It spells trouble for the region.

What has happened over the past two years should be proof enough that Manila will be further emboldened to walk further along the dangerous path it has chosen, jeopardizing regional peace and stability.

On Tokyo' s part, the defense pact with Manila is the first of its kind that Japan has signed in Asia. This fact itself is alarming. Since World War II, countries in the region have always kept an eye out for any sign that may indicate a revival of Japan's military past and refrained from any move that may encourage it. As a consequence of its selfish strategic calculation, Manila is offering that chance to Tokyo by helping expand the scope of operations for Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Considering that Japan's alt-right politicians have been dreaming of such a chance in recent years, it is tantamount to inviting a wolf into the fold.

This ill-advised Japan-Philippines defense pact shows how the two countries have become starry-eyed swallowers of Washington's tall tales of China's "aggressiveness" as it serves to condone their claim jumping.

And the deal is a further advancement of the US' efforts to create a NATO-style collective in Asia, which is irresponsible and extremely dangerous.

The US frequently flexes its military muscles on China's doorstep, it has gathered its allies into "small cliques" surrounding China, and it even gets proxies such as Japan and the Philippines to try and rile China into an ill-considered move with their provocations.

China's responses to such malicious behaviors are reasonable and justified.

China strongly opposes the unruly practices of the three countries and it will firmly oppose any acts that stoke and enflame tensions, and which undermine the security and interests of the region as a whole.