By Hua Zhang

华章

The foreign ministers of the US, Japan, Australia and India held their quadrilateral security dialogue, the Quad, in Tokyo on July 29. The joint statement released after the dialogue, though not mentioning China, expressed serious concern about the situation in the South China Sea and "about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea".

Just as China and the Philippines reached provisional arrangements regarding the situation in the Ren'ai Jiao and mitigated the tension, the sudden interest of the four Quad members in the South China Sea is actually out of their ulterior motives.

7月29日，美国、日本、澳大利亚和印度外长在东京举行四方安全对话会议，会后的联合声明虽未点名中国，却对南海局势指手画脚，表达“高度担忧”，称“高度关切持续对争议区域的军事化、以及在南中国海干扰他方航行的胁迫行为”。在中方就管控仁爱礁局势同菲方达成临时性安排、紧张态势持续趋缓的背景下，美、日、印、澳四国突如其来的“关心”，实则是唯恐天下不乱的别有用心。

China's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Xiaodong and Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro co-chaired the 9th meeting of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea in Manila on July 2. Both sides acknowledged that maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea serves the interests of both countries and is a common goal across the region. They agreed to continue dialogue and consultation through mechanisms like the BCM to manage contradictions and differences.

7月2日，中国外交部副部长陈晓东同菲律宾外交部副部长拉扎罗，在马尼拉共同主持召开中菲南海问题双边磋商机制（BCM）第九次会议。双方认为，维护南海和平稳定符合中菲双方利益，也是地区国家的共同目标，同意继续通过BCM等机制保持对话协商，管控矛盾分歧。

On July 22, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson announced that China and the Philippines reached provisional arrangements on managing the situation at Ren'ai Jiao. Five days later, the Joint Communique of the 57 ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting underscored the importance of the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety and welcomed the progress achieved so far in the ongoing negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea(COC).

7月22日，中国外交部发言人宣布,中菲就管控仁爱礁局势达成临时性安排。5天后，东盟外长会议发表的联合公报则强调全面、有效、完整落实《南海各方行为宣言》的重要性，欢迎目前正在进行“南海行为准则”谈判所取得的进展。

Clearly, the tension at Ren'ai Jiao has been greatly alleviated thanks to the joint efforts of China and the Philippines. ASEAN members also hope to further stabilize the situation through the full and effective implementation of the DOC and the accelerated consultations on COC. The South China Sea is well on the way to overall order and stability.

At such a critical moment, the "serious concern" from four out-of-region countries reeks of suspicion. What they are really concerned about is that there is no more trouble in the South China Sea and that China achieves enduring peace with surrounding countries, which would leave no space for the US and other out-of-region countries to pose their nose in. They are also concerned that Manila has grasped the situation and would stop making provocations in the South China Sea, which means they would have one fewer pawn to contain China.

可见，在中菲双方的共同努力下，仁爱礁紧张局势已经大为缓解，东盟各国也希望通过全面有效落实《南海各方行为宣言》和加快“南海行为准则”磋商，以进一步稳定局势，南海总体形势正向着平稳有序的方向发展。恰在此时，美、日、澳、印四个域外国家却对南海形势“高度担忧”“高度关切”，让人不禁怀疑，他们“担忧”的是南海地区风波不在，中国与周边国家实现长期和平，导致美国等域外势力无从插手；他们“关切”的是菲律宾是否已经认清形势，不再在南海挑衅滋事，导致他们少了一个遏制中国的有力抓手。

It's obvious that the four countries' sudden interest is closely linked with America's strategic calculations. The day before the Quad meeting, the US, Japan and ROK had a trilateral defense ministers' meeting also in Tokyo, at which they played up the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region, and signed a Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework agreement. By hyping up security issues, releasing joint statements with regional allies, and even signing new security agreements, the US is trying to make sure the allies' defense strategies will serve its own strategic goals in the major-country competition more conveniently and effectively. To that end, Washington has to keep tension on the Korean Peninsula, in the South and East China Sea, and in the Taiwan Strait – just to a degree enough to create public opinions to keep the allies on its war chariot more tightly, but not too much so confrontation won't escalate into conflict and it won't be dragged into another prolonged crisis.

显而易见，美、日、澳、印四国“突然的关心”与美国的战略算计紧密相关。就在上述四国外长会议的前一天，同样在东京还召开了美日韩防长会议，三国渲染了一番朝鲜半岛和“印太地区”的安全局势之后，签署了“韩美日安全合作框架协议”。美国正试图通过炒作安全议题，拉拢地区盟友发表联合声明，甚至签署新的安全协议，使上述国家的防务战略能够更加便捷、高效地服务于美国在大国竞争中的战略目标。为此，美国必须要让朝鲜半岛、南海、东海、台海保持一定程度的紧张态势，为更深度地捆绑盟友创造舆论环境；同时又尽量避免对峙走向冲突，让美国卷入另一场旷日持久的冲突之中。

This is exactly why, when the maritime frictions between China and the Philippines seemed to aggravate tension, the US stopped pouring oil to the flame, and instead played a war of words on a low profile. But when the China-Philippines provisional arrangements turned the situation for the better, Washington jumped out at the first opportunity to express its concern, worried that the two countries would really "bury the hatchet". The Philippines' sovereignty and security are never its concern as it claimed.

所以当中菲出现海上摩擦，局势有升级苗头时，美方放弃了拱火浇油，反而以相对低调的姿态耍起了嘴上功夫；而当中菲双方达成协议，局势大为改观时，美国又不甘寂寞地跳出来表达“担忧”，生怕中菲的不愉快就此翻篇。至于菲律宾的所谓“主权”和安全，从不在美国的考量范围之内。

The South China Sea has finally seen peace and serenity after more than a year of friction. We hope Manila can learn a lesson, stop taking any steps that would augment the situation, and strictly control the dangerous and unprofessional behaviors of its maritime forces. It should meet China halfway and make joint efforts to keep the South China Sea situation well under control. We also hope that the parties in the South China Sea can truly implement the DOC effectively and fully, and speed up the COC consultations for an early result that's valid and substantive, so as to lay a solid foundation for achieving enduring peace and stability in the region and put an end to interference from outside the region once and for all.

经历了一年多的摩擦之后，南海终于迎来难得的和平与安宁。希望菲方能够吸取教训，不再采取导致事态扩大化的任何举动，严格约束本国海上力量不专业的危险行动，同中方相向而行，共同管控好海上局势。也希望南海各方能够真正全面有效落实《南海各方行为宣言》，加快“南海行为准则”磋商，早日达成有效和实质性的准则，为南海的长治久安打下坚实基础，彻底斩断某些域外势力蠢蠢欲动的干涉之手。

Editor's note: Originally published on China.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.