A Chinese citizen sustained life-threatening injuries after being shot in Meycauayan in Bulacan Province of the Philippines on Saturday. He is the third Chinese citizen to be targeted in the Philippines in the space of five days after two Chinese nationals were abducted on September 8 and 11. One escaped, but the other is still missing. Although the Philippines is suffering from a deteriorating security situation, the spate of incidents targeting the Chinese over the past week inevitably prompts the public to connect them to the escalation in tension between Beijing and Manila.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Tourism Administration have both advised Chinese tourists to avoid travelling to the Philippines. Many travel agencies have suspended services to the Philippines, which means its tourist industry is bound to suffer heavy losses.

Beijing has urged Manila to arrest the criminals and guarantee the safety of Chinese citizens in the Philippines. However, we can't expect the warnings will yield instant results. In 2010 eight Hong Kong tourists died in a bus hijacking in Manila and in 2013 a fisherman from Taiwan was shot dead by the Philippine Coast Guard. The Philippine government failed to adopt immediate measures each time.  

To begin with, the Philippine authorities are a major agitator of a nationalist and anti-China sentiment among its population, which can easily turn into extremism. Plus, the government of the Philippines lacks the ability to manage safety issues. Consequently, certain criminals may take advantage of this anti-China mood as a cover to increase the likelihood of escaping punishment for their crimes. 

Poor social governance, an anti-China sentiment and a Western-style democratic system where nationalism can foment wantonly make the Philippines a quasi-rogue state. Dealing with it is aimed at guaranteeing the safety of Chinese citizens there, but the key lies in not going there for the moment.

The simple promise to "guarantee the safety of Chinese citizens in the Philippines" emanating from Manila came so easy, but lacks any particular sincerity from its authorities or support from its police. We demand that Philippine President Benigno Aquino III  makes a public apology for the serial attacks on Chinese citizens and severely reprimands the criminals, which may add to our confidence in the Philippine government ensuring the safety of Chinese citizens. Apart from this, Manila should take actions to crack down on provocations emanating from the extreme anti-China sentiment.

We will not sever our engagement with the Philippines as it is our near neighbor. Nevertheless, given what it has done recently, we are highly suspicious of whether it is capable of abiding by international laws. We advise Chinese citizens not to travel there in the near future, which, while being an act of caution to ensure one's safety, is also a warning signal to the Philippines.