China is showing its insecurity with its behavior toward the Philippines, Malacañang said yesterday as it lashed back at a Chinese tabloid for calling the Philippines a “cute submissive” partner of the United States. The English-language editorial came a day after the Philippines launched Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises with the US and Australia amid China’s massive reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea. Lacierda added the Philippines has been trying to resolve the sea dispute through multilateral negotiations since there are other countries involved in the maritime row.

Calica, A., & Laude, J. (2015, April 23). 'Cute US, submissive? China insecure'. The Philippine Star, pp.1, 4.