With China's pigheaded insistence on its expansive claim to the West Philippine Sea, or WPS, the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has turned to global opinion to aid against the increasing aggressiveness of Beijing's gray zone tactics.

The belligerence is now being matched by a shame campaign that brings to the world, through modern technology, China's harassment of Philippine vessels on legitimate missions in the country's exclusive economic zone.

Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning held that the root cause of the tension in the WPS is that "the Philippines has broken its promise and refused to tow away the illegally grounded warship at the reef and tried to reinforce it in an attempt to occupy Ren'ai Jiao permanently."

The official was referring to the BRP Sierra Madre, which was purposely grounded at Ayungin Shoal to serve as an outpost manned by a platoon of Philippine Marines since 1999.

The former US landing ship has become the center of the territorial tug-of-war between China and the Philippines, which has been escalating in intensity and lately included ear-piercing long-range acoustic devices and military laser equipment, aside from the usual water cannons.

The Chinese Coast Guard and its cohort militia vessels also periodically ram vessels attempting to reach the stranded ship in incidents that China would blame on the Philippines.

Since the skirmishes are all documented, the world sees the real culprit of the aggressive and dangerous maneuvers — the Chinese blockade armada.

China offers to resume bilateral dialogues to resolve the conflict, which is not encouraging since the mainland is not ready to concede its historic claims over the entire WPS.

The negotiations have impossible terms, including setting aside the 2016 victory of the Philippines at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which issued an award invalidating China's nine-dash line claim consistent with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China's Mao said that enhancing communications with the Philippines will continue, which is a positive development.

The main concern of Filipinos is that China respects its EEZ so that its subsistence fishermen and not the gigantic Chinese commercial fishing vessels will benefit from the sea's bounty.

The negotiating table, however, is bereft of goodwill.

Mao said: "We hope the Philippines will face up to the root cause of the issue, stop making provocations and creating trouble, and safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea."

The problem lies with China being obstinate about a claim that is not accepted in the community of nations.

Strong proof that China is unwilling to deal with this is its obstruction of the Code of Conduct that would bind claimants in the maritime zones.

China's insistence on excluding third-party involvement is among the demands that stalled the negotiations — which have been going on for nearly two decades.

"I'd like to stress that maritime disputes between China and the Philippines are issues between China and the Philippines. Any third party is not in the position to interfere in the issues," Mao said.

She charged that the US, "out of selfish geopolitical calculations, has for some time been conniving at, emboldening and supporting the Philippines' infringement and provocation in the South China Sea."

During the six years of the previous administration, the Philippines held friendly engagements with China, but negotiations still proved difficult as the latter insisted on its obnoxious terms.

It is China that should show sincerity, that it is willing to sit down in negotiations with an open mind and without intending to bully the party at the other end of the table into submission.