Shutting the door to a negotiated solution, the Philippine government went its own way on Sunday pleading for international arbitration over its territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
China has the obligation to safeguard its own territory, and although the US is a treaty ally of the Philippines, it should respect this fact.
The Philippines should fully recognize how sensitive and complicated the South China Sea issue is, and return to the right track of resolving the dispute through consultations and negotiations.
If Washington refuses to come to its senses, it will finally be dragged into the waters by its irresponsible allies, which also goes against the purpose of the US' Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy.
China is facing serious challenges to its maritime rights, with its resources being plundered and seas carved up, a senior oceanic official said Friday.
The Philippines recently submitted a memorandum to the Permanent Court of Arbitration laying claim to China's Meiji Reef and Huangyan Island (or Mischief Reef and Scarborough Shoal as the Philippines calls them) and several other islands that are either submerged features or "rocks" in the South China Sea as defined under Article 121 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. But that does not mean the Philippines has fulfilled the requirements for initiating an arbitration, nor does it mean the arbitral tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the case.