It has been almost a month since the Philippines triggered the ongoing disturbance around China's Huangyan Island. Since then, the Philippines has employed one trick after another: Sending marine police boats, applying for arbitration, appealing to the US and neighboring countries for help and now, renaming the island.

The Philippines is overstepping boundaries by renaming another country's territory in order to claim that territory for itself.

Last weekend, when the Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York, he said that it is extremely important to stabilize the situation in this economically and politically strategic area. However, the recent actions taken by the Philippines have resulted in extreme regional tension, which is contrary to the sentiments expressed by Del Rosario and detrimental to the stability of the South China Sea region.

It is clear that the Philippines lacks both confidence and foresight on the issue of South China Sea. Recent developments have shown that no problem can be solved by making noise and saber-rattling. As an article in the South China Morning Post writes that it is dangerous to forcibly snatch territory.

For the Philippines, the most practical and proper choice is to withdraw all of its vessels from Huangyan Island to restore peace and stability to the region. This is the only way to solve the problem.

It is unreasonable to take another country's territory by force and it is useless to play tricks and provoke further escalations. Such tricks will only make the issue more complicated and more difficult to solve. China remains undaunted in its determination to defend its territory.

The Philippine government should realize that the more tricks it plays, the more difficult it will be to solve the dispute. It is, therefore, time to stop playing tricks, otherwise the Philippine government will ultimately be left feeling embarrassed.

The author is a commentator with Xinhua News Agency.

(This post was originally published in Chinese and translated by Xu Lin.)

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