A Chinese coast guard ship uses a water cannon to expel a Philippine coast guard ship near the South China Sea during the Philippines' illegal re-supply mission on March 5, 2024. Photo: VCG

The current Philippine administration unilaterally abandoned the ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between China and the Duterte administration on the Ren’ai Jiao (Ren’ai Reef). China urged the Philippines to honor its commitments, safeguarding the hard-won peace and stability in the South China Sea, according to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Thursday.

The gentleman’s agreement between China and the Duterte administration on Ren’ai Jiao was to control the situation, maintain peace, prevent conflicts, and was unrelated to sovereignty, said a spokesperson from the Chinese embassy, in response to Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr’s recent remarks questioning the agreement.

The gentleman’s agreement is not a secret deal. Until early February 2023, seven months after the current administration took office in the Philippines, relevant departments and agencies from both sides have abided by the agreement, effectively ensuring the peaceful and stable situation around the Ren’ai Jiao.

After the current administration of the Philippines took office, China has repeatedly communicated with the Philippine government on issues related to the gentleman’s agreement, and has always insisted on seeking ways to manage differences through dialogue and consultation with the Philippines, said the spokesperson.

In addition to the meeting of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea (BCM), in 2023, China invited the special envoy of the Philippine President for China affairs to China to discuss and reach an internal understanding on the situation at Ren’ai Jiao. Earlier in 2024, through diplomatic channels, China repeatedly discussed with the Philippine military to reach a “new model” for the operation and resupply at Ren’ai Jiao, according to the spokesperson.

After the relevant understanding and arrangements were implemented, the Philippines unilaterally abandoned them without reason. China once again urges the Philippines to honor its commitments, abide by the consensus, show sincerity, stop provocations, and return to dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible, and work together with China to properly manage the situation at Ren’ai Jiao, the spokesperson said. 

In an exclusive interview with the Global Times, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte said he started on a neutral foreign policy. “Here in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), when I was president, there was no quarrel. We can return to normalcy. I hope that we can stop the ruckus over there, because the Americans are the ones pushing the Philippine government to go out there and find a quarrel and eventually maybe start a war.”

Individual Philippine politicians have been continuously hyping up maritime disputes between China and the Philippines for their own political gain, exaggerating the differences between the two countries at sea, undermining cooperation between China and the Philippines under the guise of national security, and inciting anti-China sentiments. They even have extended their reach to educational exchanges between China and the Philippines, engaging in baseless sensationalism, a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines noted on Thursday, in response to Philippine politician Joseph Lara’s recent remarks related to concerns on more Chinese students studying in the Philippines.

A type of “McCarthyism” will be revived in the Philippines if this continues, which should be highly vigilant against and resolutely opposed, the spokesperson said.

Global Times