The maritime standoff between China and the Philippines near China's Huangyan Island in the South China Sea entered its ninth day on Thursday. Manila should honor its commitment to solving the row through bilateral talks and withdraw its ships from the area immediately.

Vice-Foreign Minister Fu Ying summoned the charge d'affaires of the Philippine embassy in China for the second time on Wednesday to lodge representations over the incident, which broke out on April 10 when 12 Chinese fishing boats were harassed by a Philippine navy gunboat in a lagoon near the island.

China hopes the Philippines will act with a view to maintaining the overall situation of peace and stability in the South China Sea and will work with China to create favorable conditions for the healthy and stable development of relations between the two countries.

The incident has caused the relationship between China and the Philippines to plummet to its lowest ebb for years. Manila should shoulder the sole responsibility for the cooling of ties and must refrain from escalating the tension further.

Beijing has exercised the utmost tolerance each time Manila has chosen to stir up trouble on China's doorstep. However, it would be dangerous to gamble that China will fold rather than safeguard its territorial waters.

Manila's recent claim that it has sovereignty over Huangyan Island does not hold water as it runs counter to historical fact and legal principles. China was the first to discover Huangyan Island, name it, incorporate it into its territory and exercise jurisdiction over it. Huangyan Island is an integral part of Chinese territory, and the waters around it are a traditional fishing area for Chinese fishing boats.

Even the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Manila often refers to, does not grant coastal states' rights to undermine the inherent territory and sovereignty of other countries.

The face-off is just one example of a flurry of dangerous moves taken by Manila over its dispute with China over the South China Sea.

These acts have seriously violated the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2002, which set a principle of resolving disputes through bilateral dialogue.

China has long abided by the principle of resolving disputes through peaceful diplomatic negotiations and upholds the stance of shelving disputes to seek common development on the issue of the South China Sea. But that in no way means it will allow its sovereignty to be undermined.

(China Daily 04/20/2012 page8)