'Civilian mission' on Huangyan Dao: A deliberately orchestrated farce

Editor's note: Yang Xiao, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is the deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Strategy Studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The Philippine "civilian group" Atin Ito spearheaded a bold foray into the waters of China's Huangyan Dao this week, resupplying fishing boats and deploying symbolic buoys in what's clearly an illicit encroachment with a strong flavor of street activism. This incursion, tinged with incitement by foreign forces, threatens not only the international order and regional stability but also the Philippines' own long-term interests.

The orchestrators behind Atin Ito's activities have loudly declared these maneuvers as occurring "within" the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, purportedly legitimizing their actions and shaping global perception in favor of the Philippines' claim. However, this assertion merely exposes the true invasive intentions of these activities and flagrantly flouts international legal norms.

The rationale behind the Philippines' unlawful maneuvers is to challenge China's territorial rights over Huangyan Dao with the maritime jurisdiction conferred by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This stance is incompatible with "the land dominates the sea" principle, and also violates the requirement for coastal nations to respect the territorial sovereignty of other nations when claiming maritime jurisdiction.

Just consider the Aegean Sea, home to thousands of islands, of which more than 2,000 belong to Greece, with some lying merely 1-2 nautical miles from Turkey. Such examples abound globally, yet no country has recently so brazenly challenged the international system and order as the Philippines has.

If the waters off the western Philippines can simply be called the "West Philippine Sea," and any area within 200 nautical miles of the Philippine coastline is deemed its exclusive economic zone, then what stance should Turkey take regarding Greece and the Aegean Sea? And what fate awaits global territorial, maritime and international legal orders?

Manila should not use this as a pretext for initiating provocative acts near China's Huangyan Dao. Such activities are unsupported by international law and severely disrupt regional peace and order.

In recent years, the Philippine government has shifted tactics in its South China Sea provocations. It has employed a non-governmental organization to orchestrate a series of activities, essentially drawing from the playbook of "color revolutions" and "street politics." In recent years, such activities have inflicted deep wounds on countries and regions around the South China Sea, posing significant risks to security and stability.

These maritime incursions are promoted with distinctive symbolic elements and a unified color scheme of blue and brown, operating under the guise of civilian NGOs. The strategy typically involves an influx of personnel, followed by public opinion manipulation through media and social media platforms.

This playbook, all too familiar from "color revolutions" that have plagued many countries and regions worldwide, is not new to Southeast Asian countries which have suffered under these tactics.

Allowing Western political forces to help orchestrate movements with shades of "street politics" is akin to walking a dangerous tightrope. Once Pandora's box is opened, even the politicians who incite these activities from behind the scenes cannot control their development trajectory. Rapid escalation of this issue can lead to unexpected reversals and ripple effects, potentially interacting in volatile ways with domestic issues like the economy, employment, and energy in the Philippines, and destabilizing its internal political landscape. Such reckless political maneuvers are unwise and ill-advised.

Local media reports in the Philippines reveal that the so-called civilian groups conducting resupply missions to Huangyan Dao are in fact part of a theatrical farce, cleverly choreographed by a select group of Philippine politicians along with American and Western actors.

According to media reports, Atin Ito, which caught public attention in 2023 with its Christmas "resupply" operation to China's Ren'ai Jiao, is actually the brainchild of the Akbayan Party of the Philippines. Some members revealed on social media that the real purpose of this ostensibly "civilian group" was not to deliver supplies but to perform a charade intended to capture international attention. The goal was clear: to draw in international observers to these spectacles.

Further reporting has laid bare these so-called resupply missions as nothing more than a series of staged antics by political operators, notably featuring the participation of officials from the embassies of the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the European Union.

Cloaked in the guise of civilian activism and adopting the tactics of street politics, these operations are fueled by political maneuvering and Western backing. Rather than an awkward attempt at advocating rights, this is more a novel form of maritime provocation in the South China Sea. The international community, regional countries and the Philippine people must keep their eyes peeled and jointly curb these sinister outrages, which will have far-reaching negative impacts.

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