China has taken to Aesop’s fables to express displeasure over the Philippines’ actions defying its unwarranted claims over the West Philippine Sea — playing the victim as in the Farmer and the Viper story. In a manifesto being circulated in the Chinese military, state propagandists liken the Philippines to the snake that bit the hand of the farmer who nurtured it back to health. A report by an official of the state-run National Institute for South China Sea Studies falsely claimed the Philippines has been employing detractions regarding the West Philippine Sea issue.

So who's the real viper? [Commentary]. (2024, May 16). Daily Tribune, p. A4.