Those who harbor such views would like to drive a wedge between China and the Philippines. However, reciprocity and win-win outcomes have always prevailed in China's interactions with other countries, and this is likely to be the case this week, with China and the Philippines expected to sign agreements on deepening bilateral cooperation in various fields.

In fact, outside forces, the US in particular, instigated the previous Philippine government to provoke China over the maritime disputes between the two countries again and again.

As a result, China-Philippines relations became ice cold and tensions continued to build up in the disputed waters, serving the interests of neither country nor the region at large.

Fortunately, the new Philippine government under Duterte has decided not to be used as stepping stone in the US' strategic maneuvering in the region, which is intended to contain China's rise as Washington increasingly sees China as a rival that is bound to challenge its leadership in the region and beyond.

As such, those who feel uncomfortable about or even outraged by the rapprochement between Beijing and Manila only want to fish for their own interests in the troubled waters. To this end, the US and some of its die-hard regional allies may continue to use the South China Sea arbitration ruling or the so-called freedom of navigation as a pretext to intervene in the maritime disputes. But their ulterior motives are doomed to fail.

Abraham Lincoln once said, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time. That the Philippines has finally seen through the US' hidden agenda in the South China Sea and is making efforts to mend fences with China is ready proof of this.

The author is deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily Asia Pacific.

jasmine@chinadailyhk.com