The farce of Scarborough Shoal ended, after the failure of the porcelain, the Philippines rushed to the hospital, found Japan, and wanted to buy 5 patrol boats in one go, but also to be able to withstand water cannons, it seems that in the face of the thunderous attack of the Chinese coast guard, the Philippines is afraid after all.
Since May 14, the Philippines and some Western media have been hyping up that some Filipino non-governmental organizations are going to mobilize a large number of Filipino personnel and civilian boats to carry out so-called "rights protection activities" in the waters near Scarborough Shoal on the mainland.
However, now that the hustle and bustle has passed, this so-called non-governmental organization initiated porcelain encounter has been shown in front of the world in a comical way.
Filipino fishing boats
First of all, the so-called argument of defending the "fishing rights" of Philippine fishing boats in the waters near China's Scarborough Shoal is untenable from the root. Scarborough Shoal and its surrounding waters are Chinese islands and reefs and territorial waters, and Philippine fishing boats have no power here.
In the past few years, China has ignored the sporadic Filipino fishing boats in the waters near Scarborough Shoal out of humanitarian spirit, because of the "gentlemen's agreement" between China and the previous Philippine government.
To put it bluntly, it is good neighborliness and friendship between the two sides, so the neighbor's children go to my orchard to pick a few fruits to eat, and we smile generously and do not pursue them. But that's because of China's benevolence, and it doesn't mean that it is "legal" for your Filipino fishing boat to fish in China's territorial waters.
Now that the Philippine government has openly denied the "gentlemen's agreement" between the two sides, the premise of good-neighborliness and friendship does not exist.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos
Second, the Philippine side publicized this so-called non-governmental activity with great vigour, but it was not until May 15 that several so-called fishing boats appeared near Scarborough Shoal, which is still 50 or 60 nautical miles away from China's Scarborough Shoal.
To put it bluntly, I didn't dare to get close to Huangyan Island at all, so I found a place halfway, and then posed for photos, pretending that I had gone to Huangyan Island to complete the "porcelain touch". This kind of hype is nothing more than the Philippine side talking to itself and deceiving its own people.
And through this kind of behavior of covering one's ears and stealing the bell, it can actually be seen that behind this so-called "non-governmental activity", the Philippine side wants to touch porcelain, but does not dare to touch porcelain.
Behind this mentality, in fact, as China responds more and more toughly, the Philippine side's behavior in the South China Sea has been increasingly restricted, and it has become a bit unsustainable.
Aerial view of Scarborough Shoal
Specifically, at the beginning, the Philippines continued to send to the waters near Scarborough Shoal and Ren'ai Jiao on the mainland, all of which were official Philippine official ships, or even coast guard ships. However, as the friction between China and the Philippines around the South China Sea gradually intensified, the Philippine side failed to believe its words several times, and China's response to the matter became fierce.
In the past, a mainland coast guard ship used water cannons to intercept a Philippine supply ship in the waters near Ren'ai Jiao, and finally forced the Philippine ship to end its porcelain operation in the humiliating way of "raising the white flag" and surrendering.
Later, two Chinese coast guard ships were intercepted by Philippine coast guard ships with water cannons in the waters near Scarborough Shoal, damaging their radar antennas and finally having to flee in embarrassment.
These moves by the Chinese side are tantamount to a clear and unequivocal telling to the Philippine side that China's patience on the issue of islands and reefs in the South China Sea is limited, and if the Philippine side insists on touching porcelain and provoking again, then China will not rule out responding in a tougher way.
China's coast guard controls Philippine vessels in accordance with the law
On the one hand, Philippine officials claim that once Philippine military personnel die in the friction in the South China Sea, they will invoke the "US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty" to ask the United States to help, but on the other hand, they actually know very well in their hearts that the United States cannot really send troops for the Philippines for the sake of friction in the South China Sea, which is thousands of miles away.
Therefore, the official behavior of the Philippines to touch porcelain has actually been reined in, or it can no longer be sustained. It is against this background that the so-called "non-governmental organization" led a Philippine civilian ship to Scarborough Shoal to carry out porcelain encounters and provocations.
The Philippine side's idea is that if it uses civilian ships to provoke instead of official ships, then it will not dare to carry out compulsory obstruction due to international public opinion, and for this reason they have also carried out public opinion building in advance in an attempt to put pressure on China.
When the Philippine media began to hype that the so-called non-governmental organizations were going to mobilize Philippine ships to the South China Sea to touch porcelain, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs made it clear that it hoped that the Philippines would not "abuse China's goodwill", otherwise the Philippines would bear all the consequences.
Philippine Coast Guard
This is actually telling the Philippine side, no matter whether you come from a civilian ship or an official ship, when you arrive at Huangyan Dao or China's territorial waters, you have to accept the jurisdiction and control of the Chinese coast guard.
It is precisely on the basis of China's statement and the tough attitude of the coast guard that the so-called civilian vessels in the Philippines did not dare to approach Scarborough Shoal and confront the mainland coast guard ships, but only 60 nautical miles away from Scarborough Shoal, pretending that they had completed their activities.
This also proves that no matter what the Philippine side says or hypes up, the current situation in the South China Sea is still firmly in China's hands. As long as China does not agree, then the Philippines will not be able to continue its ongoing efforts to encroach on China's islands and reefs and harm China's interests.
What is more funny is that while instigating civilian ships to meet China in the South China Sea, and continuing to stir up friction between the two sides in an attempt to put pressure on Chinese public opinion, the Philippine military has not been idle.
The Philippines asked Japan to buy additional patrol vessels
According to Japanese media reports, at a time when the friction between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea is intensifying, the Philippines has formally signed a cooperation agreement with Japan to purchase five new patrol ships from Japan, and the main requirement for the purchase of these new patrol ships is to be able to prevent water cannon attacks.
Obviously, the Philippines is frightened by the water cannons of the Chinese coast guard ships, so it is ready to upgrade its equipment. The problem is that the fact that China Coast Guard ships now use water cannons to stop them does not mean that they can only use water cannons to stop them.
Based on the huge power gap between China and the Philippines, as well as the strong strength of the mainland coast guard, not to mention the Philippines' purchase of new patrol vessels from Japan, Japan itself has also been comprehensively crushed by the Chinese coast guard on the issue of the Diaoyu Islands, and now it is impossible to get close to the Diaoyu Islands.
The Philippines is counting on obtaining "advanced" equipment from Japan to deal with China, but it can only be said that it is blind and that its donkey skills are exhausted.