Recently, the Philippines has continuously wooed extra-regional countries to conduct joint patrols and military exercises in the South China Sea and set up a so-called "task force". 

In response, Ministry of National Defense of China pointed out that the Philippines' move to court external forces for frequent infringements and provocations is the root cause of tensions in the South China Sea. By relying on outside forces to seek selfish gains through military means and trading away its sovereignty for so-called security guarantees, the Philippines will never become safer. Instead, it will only reduce itself to a mere “pawn” in geopolitical games.