Time ago it was desertification, 'turning the Earth barren,' and 'leaving entire countries facing famine'; now the worry is that in the receding drylands 'vegetation may soak up scarce water supplies'

Although by then it was well-known that it was a better theory that the deserts were receding and the earth was greening, than the opposite one (the deserts were extending), since at least 2016*, and that there was a continental-scale greening (not specifically of dry areas) since 1997**, The Guardian, as late as 2021, had the nerve to say (my emphasis):

"Desertification is turning the Earth barren – but a solution is still within reach. The expansion of drylands is leaving entire countries facing famine. It’s time to change the way we think about agriculture" — David R Montgomery. The Guardian, Jun 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/02/desertification-barren-solution-famine-agriculture

The guy is not a journo... It is (& was at the moment) professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington.

When I thought the revenge finally came, a top notch university saying the drylands were going green, as was known for a decade:

With CO2 Levels Rising, World’s Drylands Are Turning Green. Fred Pearce. Yale Environment 360, Jul 16 2024. https://e360.yale.edu/features/greening-drylands-carbon-dioxide-climate-change

, I had to experience a deep disappointment... Unfortunately, even admitting to this stuff of a greening earth, of course they found that something bad and very worrying is happening, despite this positive "news": "But scientists warn this added vegetation may soak up scarce water supplies." :-)

* Zhu, Z., Piao, S., Myneni, R. et al. Greening of the Earth and its drivers. Nature Clim Change 6, 791–795 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3004

** Myneni, R. B., Keeling, C. D., Tucker, C. J., Asrar, G. & Nemani, R. R. Increased plant growth in the northern high latitudes from 1981 to 1991. Nature 386, 698–702 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/386698a0

It is reassuring to read these sycophants explaining that shooting down Nancy Pelosi was discarded as an idea; it also certifies that the tyrant won't go to war over Taiwan

China ramps ups military education for younger ages to help sow ‘seeds’ of patriotism. Amber Wang in Beijing. Southern China Morning Post, Jul 16 2024.

More primary and secondary schoolchildren are participating in pilot programmes to improve their military awareness and skills

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3270546/china-ramps-ups-military-education-younger-ages-help-sow-seeds-patriotism

My emphasis:

Days after former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022, hundreds of students at a school in mainland China gathered for a lecture in which they were told how the trip represented US moves to “contain” Beijing’s rise.

“Why did Pelosi risk being condemned by the world for visiting Taiwan? Why didn’t we shoot it down?” asked a teacher at the No 10 Middle School in Liuyang, Hunan province, according to an online post by the school.

The question prompted heated discussion among the students – all clad in combat uniforms – before the teacher wrapped up the lecture.

Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which prompted Beijing to launch unprecedented military exercises around the self-ruled island, happened “against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict” and represented “the latest manifestation of great power competition”, the teacher reasoned.

“The intention of the US elite is to use the Taiwan issue to disrupt our development rhythm and curb our rise,” the teacher concluded.

The “national defence education class”, which according to the school was intended to “train student minds to resist the erosion of foreign ideology”, was one of many similar sessions being held around the country as Beijing ramps up efforts to raise awareness among young people about national security.

They come as patriotic fervour is on the rise – driven by Beijing – in response to geopolitical rivalries, notably with countries like the US, and as analysts express concerns about declining military recruitment levels due to factors such as falling birth rates.

Meanwhile, in recent years, drones and rocket launchers have been introduced into combat training at some universities, while groups of children as young as kindergarten age have been sent to tour military camps so that the “seeds” of a “strong military” can be planted, as military commanders have described it.

China is also making changes to a law in a bid to boost national defence education, including exploring ways to enhance the combat skills of teenagers to prepare for potential risks in a “complex and ever-changing security and development environment”.

The trends, according to experts, underline growing concerns in Beijing over what are seen as geopolitical risks, and challenges to attract young people to join the military, all while experts attempt to extract military lessons from key battlegrounds like Ukraine.

“The world is not peaceful, the education on patriotism and national defence should be cultivated from an early age,” Chinese military analyst Fu Qianshao said.

“In the future, when war breaks out, all citizens must be mobilised, which can be seen in the Ukraine war.”

Reaching younger kids

For decades, in addition to its mostly voluntary conscription system, China has deployed a system of public military education that includes compulsory training in high schools and universities. The approach, while not common, has also been used in Russia and North Korea.

Russia revived compulsory military training for high school students in 2023, a year after it invaded Ukraine, and decades since the practice was dropped following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Most countries offer some form of national defence education for their young people through optional courses or specialised military academies, or organisations that teach values and skills.

[A large screen shows a promotion for China’s military on a street in Beijing in August 2022. Photo: AFP]

Military training in Chinese high schools has shades of the Scouts of America, founded in 1910, which also weaves in messages of patriotism across a range of activities and educational programmes. The key difference is the Chinese version is mandatory.

But as geopolitical headwinds intensify, Beijing now believes that more must be done to rally China’s youth to support its military.

Under new amendments to China’s National Defence Education Law, the first changes since 2018, a key focus will be on military education among the country’s teenagers.

For the first time since the law was introduced more than two decades ago, primary school pupils from about age six are now required to have military “awareness” through compulsory classes, according to a draft submitted in April for first reading to the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC).

Meanwhile, according to the draft, junior high schools may, for the first time, organise military training for students ages 12-15 to master combat skills, following the implementation of the mandatory programme in universities and high schools in the past.

The amendments, which have to pass a second or possibly third reading, were part of an array of many similar policy readouts in recent years.

For example, according to rules issued in 2022 by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, national defence education should be incorporated into school curriculums and examination processes, and primary schools are urged to conduct seven-day combat training sessions.

As of January this year, 2,431 primary and secondary schools had been selected for pilot programmes to improve military awareness and skills among children.

Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at the Taiwanese naval academy in Kaohsiung, said the most important component of national defence education is learning patriotism.

“If you receive national defence education as early as possible, whether it is physical fitness, national identity, or the construction of patriotic thinking, you will have a correct view on how to protect the country,” Lu said.

“Now that the US is joining forces with allies to launch all-round containment on China, including in science and technology, strengthening defence education is very important for uniting national consciousness,” he added.

Combat training and drones

When they were first adopted in the 1980s, these short-term military training sessions for Chinese students were little more than military marching, formation drills and physical exercise.

But recently, the exercises have become much more immersive, as some training features the use of combat equipment such as drones, and the simulation of real battlefield environments, according to publicly available information.

In China’s southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which borders Vietnam, students at Guilin University of Electronic Technology underwent combat training with rocket launchers and simulated drone bombings, according to a report by The Beijing News last September.

That same month, students at Peking University in Beijing conducted target practice with guns, while 5,000 students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University marched at night while learning how to avoid air attacks, according to a report by The Paper.

China’s unique short-term military training programmes are unlike those of many other countries, which operate some form of conscription that requires longer stints of military service, with 32 of them requiring more than 18 months of service for men.

However, military education in China is systematically conducted across different levels of schools through courses and lectures beginning in primary schools, as well as activities such as visits to military memorial sites and military training camps.

In April, a group of kindergarten children was sent to observe the training of frontline soldiers in the Eastern Theatre Command Air Force, according to an official military post on Weibo.

“The zero distance” engagement between the kids and soldiers allowed the “seeds” of a “strong military” and patriotism to be planted in the hearts of the children, the post on Weibo said.

National defence education in primary and secondary schools is the “foundation” of the national security strategy, Ma Dan, a researcher with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Military Sciences wrote in an article in Guangming Daily last year.

“Exposing the enemy’s lies by explaining the truth has become an urgent issue that national defence education in primary and secondary schools must face in a new era,” said Ma, who is part of the team responsible for the country’s defence education system.

Military awareness and basic combat skills should be cultivated gradually from childhood so that they can “spontaneously and proactively” react with national defence behaviours to help prevent threats like separatism and defend territorial integrity, Ma wrote in the article.

Recruitment problems

The trend to ramp up military indoctrination among Chinese youth comes as concerns grow in Beijing over having enough recruits to sustain the country’s military, as conflicts like Moscow’s war in Ukraine cast a spotlight on military preparedness.

In several addresses, Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed Taiwan’s “reunification” with the mainland as “inevitable”, preferably through peaceful means, but never renouncing the use of force to accomplish the task.

[Mainland China launches PLA blockade around Taiwan, 3 days after William Lai speech]

The NPC argues that the amendments to the national defence education law are necessary to cope with what has been described as a complex security environment and various growing risks, according to an explanation presented alongside the amendments in April.

Other government papers have linked military education to the overall strength of the PLA, as it becomes increasingly challenging to recruit members among China’s youth.

According to those papers, the tasks of national defence education are difficult but greatly important in safeguarding national sovereignty, and achieving the army centenary goal in 2027.

Many of China’s challenges in attracting people to enlist in military service can be traced to demographics, as the country’s population ages and the proportion of young people declines.

However, a “weak sense” of national defence is also a factor, according to a paper published in Contemporary Youth Research in 2014. Because they have grown up in an extended era of peacetime, younger generations are increasingly influenced by “hedonistic” trends in social media that steer them away from military service, according to a proposal by a Chinese local advisory body.

Fu Qianshao, the military analyst, said young people are part of the country’s reserve forces that could play roles in wartime, so it is necessary to cultivate their awareness and skills from an early age, though the enhancement of education was not “directly” related to the recruitment considerations.

But some have expressed doubts about how effective such initiatives will be in addressing Beijing’s concerns.

“The programmes aim to bolster patriotic enthusiasm and perhaps expand the ranks of potential recruits for the PLA,” said Timothy Heath, a senior international and defence analyst at the RAND Corporation, who expressed doubts that coordinated indoctrination could effectively address those challenges.

“Nor will the measures fundamentally improve the PLA’s recruitment situation, because young people do not like to experience hardship and life in the barracks in China, or anywhere else in the developed world.”

---

My comments on several of the sad sentences by these emaciated running dogs (like why "did Pelosi risk being condemned by the world"!?!?!?!?!?):

1  Their words are revolting, I'm throwing up reading the bootlickers.

2  Those who promote educating the young for war and the military are, for the most part, just extracting rent from the taxpayer. This education program won't work, and they know it is not effective, but they make a living of this. Nauseating.

3  As I said above, reading these kowtowing minions contemplating shooting down Nancy Pelosi means there will be no war over Taiwan. Tyrant Chin-p'ing Hsi has said to von der Leyen, and to his lackeys*, that "the US was trying to trick China into invading Taiwan, but that he would not take the bait," and the greasy slaves supra confirm this.

4  To finish the comments, let me express my hope that we may, at the end, see the tyrant's fall and harmony on the Strait.

* [Chin-p'ing] claimed US wants China to attack Taiwan https://www.ft.com/content/7d6ca06c-d098-4a48-818e-112b97a9497a

Gen. Wei, a senior party and PLA leader, had “a collapse of faith and a loss of loyalty” and “seriously polluted the political ecosystem of the PLA”; Gen. Li had “abandoned the original mission and lost the principles of the party” & seriously contaminated the PLA’s military equipment industry

China’s military commits to full ‘rectification’ in corruption investigations’ wake. Xinlu Liang in Beijing. South China Morning Post, Jul 11 2024

The Central Military Commission says political education is crucial to advancing the PLA and war preparations

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3270001/chinas-military-commits-full-rectification-corruption-investigations-wake

China’s military will double down on political education following the downfall of two former defence ministers accused of “polluting” the armed forces.

The Central Military Commission (CMC), the country’s top military decision-making body, said on Wednesday that the People’s Liberation Army would undergo complete “rectification” as part of its combat-readiness mission.

“Deepening the military’s political education and training is crucial for advancing the military’s development and achieving its strategic goals,” the CMC said.

“It is a serious and significant political task that requires unwavering determination and practical actions.

“We must integrate our efforts into the struggle, preparation for war, and construction of the military ... We must also continuously consolidate the Communist Party’s leadership in the new era and achieve the great goal of building a strong military.”

This process, it said using a rarely used phrase, would include “rectification of the mind, personnel appointments, organisation, working style and discipline”.

It would also involve a thorough review of the military’s policies and practices, as well as the promotion of a sense of discipline and responsibility among its personnel, state news agency Xinhua reported.

            video: China sacks defence minister Li Shangfu with no explanation after nearly two-month absence 

The wide-ranging pledge comes two weeks after authorities announced that former defence ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe were under investigation for alleged corruption.

In unusually harsh language about the two former generals, the official reports said, Wei, a senior party and PLA leader, had “a collapse of faith and a loss of loyalty” and “seriously polluted the political ecosystem of the PLA”. Meanwhile, Li had “abandoned the original mission and lost the principles of the party” and seriously contaminated the PLA’s military equipment industry.

Their actions “betrayed the trust of the party’s central leadership and the CMC … and caused great damage to the party’s cause, national defence and the construction of the PLA, as well as to the image of the senior leading cadres”, official reports said.

The investigations uncovered evidence of other possible “serious disciplinary and criminal offences” by the two men, according to the CMC, and both will face criminal prosecution.

China has emphasised the importance of maintaining a clean and efficient military, and has vowed to take decisive action against any officials found to be tainted by corruption. The campaign is seen as a key part of President Xi Jinping’s efforts to strengthen party control over the military and instil a culture of integrity within its ranks.

In June, Xi told the top brass that the PLA must show absolute loyalty to the party and there could be no room for corruption in the military.

“We must make it clear that the barrels of guns must always be in the hands of those who are loyal and dependable to the party … And we must make it clear that there is no place for any corrupt elements in the military,” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

He warned that the world was undergoing complex and profound changes, and the military must adapt to these changes by promoting politics in its development and ensuring that the nature and principles of the people’s army remain unchanged.

“[PLA] cadres at all levels, the senior ones in particular, must step forward, dare to lose face and face their own shortcomings and flaws … make earnest rectifications, and resolve problems that are deeply rooted in their thinking,” Xi said.

China has seen a number of high-profile corruption cases involving senior military officers in recent years.

Nine senior generals – including past and serving top commanders of the PLA Rocket Force, a former air force commander and a series of CMC officials with the Equipment Development Department – were removed from their positions in December.

The disasters of excessive patriotic zeal, or of dotardness, I can't tell... Corrupt running dog, bootlicker, (p)sycophant and mafioso Shih-ts'un Wu urges to construct narratives defending Chinese maritime claims raiding Western archives/libraries

South China Sea: Chinese academics urged to ‘construct narratives’ to defend maritime claims. Laura Zhou. South China Morning Post, Jun 30 2024.

China faces ‘an increasingly arduous battle’ to win over public opinion in the disputed waters, speakers tell an academic seminar in Hainan

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3268562/south-china-sea-chinese-academics-urged-construct-narratives-defend-maritime-claims

Preserving a copy for posterity, they may very well end up removing this filth. My emphasis:

Chinese academics have called for more studies of the country’s claims to the disputed South China Sea.

“Narrative construction and discourse building are essential if we are to effectively defend our rights and interests in the South China Sea – both in the present and in future,” Wu Shicun, founder of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told a seminar held in Hainan province last week.

Beijing lays claim to much of the South China Sea, citing historic activities and records in support.

Its claims were rejected by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 2016 in a case filed by the Philippines.

Recently the two countries have been involved in a series of clashes near disputed reefs – including collisions, China using water cannons and a recent incident in which a Philippine sailor lost a thumb. These have raised fears that the situation may escalate into a more serious conflict.

Without naming any country, Wu said China faced “an increasingly arduous battle over public perception and opinion”, adding that “rival claimants” were “stepping up cooperation with extraterritorial forces in the study of historical and legal issues” concerning the South China Sea.

Beijing has dismissed the Hague ruling as “null and void” and continued to build up its infrastructure and troop presence in the South China Sea.

But the Philippines and other claimants – which include Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei – along with the United States and its allies have repeatedly urged China to abide by international law.

The Philippines has signalled that it may turn to the Hague for another ruling, fuelling worries in Beijing that it would put the country in a bind and harm its reputation as a peacemaker and friendly neighbour in the region.

Yi Xianliang, a former ambassador to Norway who previously served as deputy director of the foreign ministry’s boundary and ocean affairs department, also spoke at Tuesday’s seminar and dismissed the 2016 ruling as a “bad joke”.

But he warned “we have to ask why the ruling is flawed” and ask if it “will happen again and how we can prevent it from happening again”.

Wu, who now chairs the Huayang Institute for Research on Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, denied China had violated international law in its disputes with the Philippines, and accused the US and its allies for “taking sides … by supporting whoever confronts China and violates China’s rights in the South China Sea”.

“Some strange theories which deliberately distort the history of the South China Sea and maliciously smear China’s rights and claims in the South China Sea have begun to circulate in the international academic community,” Wu said.

He urged the 100 or so historians and legal scholars present to help “restore the rightful background on South China Sea issues from historical and legal perspectives”.

Wu also said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – which governs maritime rights and the freedom of navigation – could not take precedence over countries’ historical titles and rights, citing a previous case involving Eritrea and Yemen in the 1990s.

He said scholars could make their case by tapping into foreign manuscript collections, maritime histories and Western naval literature to support China’s claims.

This would allow them to “give a forceful response to the false narratives that China is changing the status quo in the South China Sea, that China has failed to comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”, Wu said.

This, he said, would help rebut accusations that Beijing was making “excessive maritime claims”.

---

My comment (and my emphasis): Shih-ts'un Wu, founder of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (中国南海研究院 (nanhai.org.cn)), now (it seems) the capo at the Huayang Institute for Research on Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance (can't get website of that snake pit, and its name varies wildly, sometimes is Center on Maritime, or Research Center on Maritime), told seminar assistants in Hainan province last week to construct narratives defending Chinese maritime claims with any means necessary, including raiding Western archives/libraries: "scholars could make their case by tapping into foreign manuscript collections, maritime histories and Western naval literature to support China’s claims, which would allow them to 'give a forceful response to the false narratives that China is changing the status quo in the South China Sea, that China has failed to comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.'"

My assessment is that the lackeys will not only covertly, clandestinely infiltrate libraries and research institues, but that they, in their demented patriotic cowardice, will plunder and scavenge the archives, like the vulptures they are, destroying documents that support the Philippines' claims.

This is the implicit command of these savages of the Party.

---

Board of Governors (中国南海研究院 (nanhai.org.cn)), page now lost:

Wu Shicun has a PhD in history and is president and senior research fellow of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies, chairman of board of directors of China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea, vice president of China Institute for Free Trade Ports Studies, deputy director of the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies, Nanjing University.

Dr Wu’s research interests cover the history and geography of the South China Sea, maritime delimitation, maritime economy, international relations and regional security strategy. His main single-authored books include What One Needs to Know about the South China Sea (Current Affairs Press, 2016), What One Needs to Know about the Disputes between China and the Philippines (Current Affairs Press,2014), Solving Disputes for Regional Cooperation and Development in the South China Sea: A Chinese perspective (Chandos Publishing, 2013). His main edited books include: The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road: Challenges and Opportunities for Asia and Europe (Routledge, 2019), South China Sea Law fare: Post-Arbitration Policy Options and Future Prospects (South China Sea Think Tank / Taiwan Center for Security Studies, 2017), Arbitration Concerning the South China Sea: Philippines versus China (Ashgate, 2016), UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the South China Sea (Ashgate, 2015),  Non-Traditional Security Issues and the South China Sea-Shaping a New Framework for Cooperation (Ashgate, 2014), Recent Developments in the South China Sea Dispute: The Prospect of a Joint Development Regime (Routledge, 2014), Securing the Safety of Navigation in East Asia—Legal and Political Dimensions (Chandos Publishing, 2013). Dr Wu has published widely in academic journals and been the subject of frequent media interviews as a senior commentator on South China Sea, regional security issues, the Belt & Road Initiative and the development of Hainan Province.

--------------

Update Jul 10 2024. The reprobate imperious colonizer, highly dishonorable, recidivist offender, and intemperate, libelous, impious, defiling, noxious, pretentious, harmful, poisonous, virulent,  vitiating, "malignant" (he writes ' "tumor" ' infra), pestilential, indecent, injurious, contaminative, pernicious, sinful, ignoble, polluting, maleficent, venomous, sinister, debasing, demoralizing, corrupting, venenose, lachrymose, environmentally unfriendly Shih-ts'un Wu, the psychotic, sacrilegious mafioso, one of the most loyal lieutenant desecrators, the most indecorous, immodest one, with no regrets ever, a hooligan, a refurbished, recalcitrant lackey, in a joint effort with the Global Times published the article below.

The viperous, provincial, felonious, demonic, depraved, truth eclipser, disreputable, impish, septic Global Times, who shamelessly, almost with voluptuousness, delights in schadenfreude, let this hatchet job of Shih-th'un see the light and in doing so detracted from the sum of human knowledge once again.

The GT editorial board and many of the gossipers there seems to experience extreme pleasure with their soiled words, it is a study case of lack of benevolence from the Heights of Power. The butlers there despise the dissident, the free-thinker, and the hoi polloi, and have no qualms about crushing others' rights.

The revolting piece, calling to reject not only what the arbitral court (Permanent Court of Arbitration) said more than a lustrum ago, but also what it may decide in the future, shows how low we can sink when we are enemies of Reason. A sure way to go that path is to become slaves of sentimentality, blindly follow a political party, and gush about the Fatherland, seeing the other peoples as inferior.

It is the old, repulsive imperial view that for so many centuries we had to endure of these brutes, who, like proverbial capital-city dwellers, behave as bullies but see themselves as refined, polite professionals, good lads that have to suffer the obnoxious, illiterate, unsophisticated peasants who deserve no voice. Why the rough, ungraceful country cousins think still of having the right to avoid taxation when there is no representation? The mandarinate knows better. Always knew.

Urgent call to clear toxicity of [the] SCS arbitration award. Shih-ts'un Wu.

https://en.nanhai.org.cn/index/research/paper_c/id/598.html

My emphasis:

With the approach of the 8th anniversary of the illegal award on the South China Sea arbitration, some troubling developments have recently emerged in the region. A number of extraterritorial countries have increased their military activities in the South China Sea, and the Philippines has ratcheted up legal motions and maritime actions aimed at solidifying this arbitration award. Certain countries have intensified unilateral actions to consolidate and expand their vested interests. 

In less than two years, the current Philippine government has nearly dismantled the good practices established over recent years for managing maritime differences and properly handling the South China Sea issue between China and the Philippines. The bilateral relationship, which had gradually emerged from the shadow of the illegal South China Sea arbitration case, now appears to have reset and is even regressing.

The international community is widely aware of China's position of not accepting or recognizing the award. However, some countries have not fully grasped the significant damage and harm that the award has caused to the handling of the South China Sea dispute, the rule-building in the region, the fairness and authority of international dispute settlement mechanisms, and the international order based on international law. Some even harbor unrealistic fantasies about the award. 

Judging from the current provocative actions of the Philippines against China's rights and claims in the South China Sea, the current Philippine government has intensified its use of the award to change the status quo, consolidate illegal gains and expand the scope of infringement. Since taking office, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has frequently cited the award as a so-called "basis" to attack and smear China's actions of safeguarding legitimate rights at the Ren'ai Jiao and Huangyan Dao. In fact, the arbitration award contains significant errors and flaws in legal interpretation and application, fact-finding and evidence acceptance. China's stance is precisely an act of maintaining its legitimate rights and interests, maintaining maritime peace and stability and upholding the rule of law.

Looking back at the volatile situation in the South China Sea since the award was issued eight years ago, it can be asserted that the award has not brought, and indeed cannot bring, peace and tranquility to the South China Sea. The arbitration award has become a "troublemaker" for peace and stability in the South China Sea, a "spoiler" for bilateral relations between China and relevant parties, and a "roadblock" for the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the orderly advancement of consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

We must recognize that the arbitration award has had an extremely negative impact on political mutual trust at all levels between China and the Philippines. Outside the Philippines, some other disputant sides also occasionally refer to or cite the arbitration award as the basis for their respective claims. Additionally, some extraterritorial countries hold the arbitration award as a standard, pressuring the Chinese government to "respect" or "implement" the award. Therefore, it is crucial to make relevant countries within and outside the region clearly understand the essence and dangers of the award, and to promote the relevant parties to return to the correct track of resolving disputes through negotiation and consultation, mitigating differences through maritime cooperation and managing crises through rule-building.

As for the Philippines' threat to initiate new arbitration against China, it is, in a sense, a manifestation of the lingering toxicity of this arbitration award. No matter how the Philippine government packages the so-called "second arbitration," its content will definitely be related to some errors in the previous arbitration award. China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and the adjacent waters. It needs to repeatedly and continuously clarify the toxicity of the arbitration award from a legal standpoint to thoroughly eradicate this "tumor" that has long undermined the rule of law and order at sea.

Rebutting the arbitration award and countering the erroneous statements of countries within and outside the region are not intended to provoke a new round of legal battles, but to make a rightful response to actions and forces that disrupt peace and stability in the South China Sea, interfere with China-Philippine relations and profit from the award. This will further reveal to the international community the political background of the arbitral tribunal's composition and the historical errors of the arbitration award, and lay bare the irreversible severe harm the award has caused to the rule of law and maritime order.

Wu Shicun is the chairman of the Huayang Research Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance and founding president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

Link: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202407/1315786.shtml