China once again called on the Philippines to halt its actions in the South China Sea (SCS) based on a “screenplay” written by what it described as “external forces.”

In a statement released Saturday night, the Chinese Embassy in Manila echoed Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s response to the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines.

“For every move on the sea by the Philippines, there is a screenplay written by external forces, the show is live streamed by Western media, and the plot is invariably to smear China. People are not interested in watching the same performance again and again,” Wang said.

Wang said that China would continue to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with the law.

“The Philippine side should stop misleading the international community, using the South China Sea issue to instigate disputes, and counting on external forces to undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea region,” he said.

Wang further warned that “infringement and provocation will backfire” and that those acting as “others’ chess pieces” are “bound to be discarded.”

Distortions

For his part, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo dismissed Wang’s analogy of the situation in the West Philippine Sea, accusing the latter of “distorting” the real issue.

“In a way, we’re distorting the issue. It’s being cast in the light of a strategic rivalry among the big powers when actually, the issue is really an issue of Philippine interest and how it affects the Philippines,” Manalo said.

“It has no connection to any kind of strategic rivalry among the big powers, and we think it should not be viewed that way,” Manalo added in a chance interview on Saturday on the sidelines of a bilateral meeting with British Foreign Minister David Lammy.

The Philippines, one of the United States’ oldest allies in the Indo-Pacific region, has been in a long-standing maritime dispute with China, which claims the vast South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, which is within Manila’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of Manila, rejecting China’s expansive “nine-dash line” claim. Beijing, however, has refused to recognize the ruling.

Tensions have recently escalated in the South China Sea, which overlaps the West Philippine Sea.

Last month, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy helicopter with tail number 68 performed “dangerous flight maneuvers” against the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources aircraft flying over Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.

According to PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Commodore Jay Tarriela, the “reckless action” of the Chinese military helicopter “posed a serious risk” to the safety of the pilots and passengers conducting maritime domain awareness flights within the country’s territorial airspace.