Why, on precisely those two mornings, did your China Coast Guard vessels choose to water cannon and harass Philippine Coast Guard and BFAR vessels at Bajo de Masinloc?
Last Thursday, 23 July, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum were convened here in Manila.
Last Friday, 24 July, the region marked the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia — a treaty China itself acceded to, whose first principles are the renunciation of the threat or use of force and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means. Foreign ministers from ASEAN and from like-minded states were in this city on both days. So was Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
What is its strategic objective?
Answer that, and the rest of the statement is unnecessary.
