In July 2016, in the South China Sea, the largest maritime military exercise after the PLA military reform was underway.
The three major fleets of the Chinese Navy were all elite, more than 100 ships were spread across the South China Sea, and four Chinese admirals personally sat in the military exercise.
On the US side, the USS Reagan and USS Stanis dual-aircraft carrier battle groups, led by Admiral Harris, a four-star admiral of the US Military and now commander of the US Peace Command, are looking at the tiger twelve nautical miles away from the nine-dash line in the South China Sea.
And this is the 2016 Sino-US south China Sea confrontation that is destined to go down in history.
However, what is very surprising is that the military confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in the "Cuban Missile Crisis" during the Cold War was terminated with the comprehensive withdrawal of the US military.
What is even more shocking is that the reason for the withdrawal of the US military is actually a photo released by the Chinese media.
This makes people wonder, what kind of wonderful game is behind this confrontation?
All this must start from the fuse of the Confrontation between China and the United States in the South China Sea, the Sino-Philippines South China Sea arbitration...
1. The China-Philippines South China Sea dispute
As we all know, the South China Sea has been an inalienable part of China's territory since ancient times.
As early as the Han Dynasty, Chinese people had begun to live in the South China Sea and its islands, listing it as part of Chinese territory.
After the 1930s, due to China's internal disputes, China had no time to take care of many problems in the South China Sea, so that Southeast Asian countries led by the Philippines had a voyeuristic heart for the South China Sea.
As early as the 1930s, the Philippine government repeatedly consulted with the French and Japanese governments to jointly divide China's South Spratly Islands, but without success.
With the end of World War II in 1947 and the independence of the Philippines, its ambitions to claim sovereignty over the South China Sea and the Spratly Islands not only did not shrink because of the war, but became more and more inflated.
In the decade of the 1950s, there were no less than three attempts to illegally invade and occupy the Spratly Islands by various acts such as the "Humanitarian Kingdom Incident", but all of them were severely rejected by the Chinese government.
Fast forward to the 1970s, after nearly four decades of exploration of the Attitude of the Chinese Government and the South China Sea, the Philippine Government made the judgment that "China's naval strength is not strong" and began to forcibly occupy the Nansha Islands through military acts.
In the short decade that followed, the Philippines invaded and occupied many islands in the South China Sea through various means, including Mahuan Island, Nankey Island, Zhongye Island, Xiyue Island, Beizi Island, Feixin Island, and Shuanghuangshazhou.
The massive garrison on these islands and the construction of airstrips have apparently made these Chinese islands their own backyard gardens.
Even more infuriating, the Philippines, which has tasted the sweetness, has begun to carry out its own plans to annex the South China Sea more brazenly. The most typical of these is the "Scarborough Shoal Incident" in 2012.
In the incident, the Philippines illegally detained twelve Chinese fishing boats conducting fishing operations on Scarborough Shoal, which eventually triggered a confrontation between China and the Philippines.
However, unlike in the past, in the "Huangyan Island Incident", China expressed an unprecedented toughness and eventually regained actual control of Huangyan Island.
This has made the Philippine side clearly aware of China's change of attitude toward the South China Sea issue, and at the same time realized that it is no longer feasible to illegally occupy China's Nansha islands as before.
However, in the international situation, clear-eyed people can see that the essential reason why the Philippines dares to invade and occupy the South China Sea and engage in a south China Sea dispute with China is not China and the Philippines, but the country that has been behind the Philippines, the United States.
In the 1970s, due to the formation of the Cold War pattern of "Soviet aggression and defense", it was difficult for the United States to engage in direct confrontation with the Soviet Union. As a result, the United States has set its sights on the Asia-Pacific region.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the South China Sea, as an important part of China's 4.7 million square kilometers of sea, has become a strategic goal for the United States to achieve global military hegemony.
It is against this background that the Philippines dares to carry out illegal occupation of the Spratly Islands and the waters of the South China Sea. This is the main reason why China has difficulty responding to the Philippines' occupation of the South China Sea islands.
In other words, the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines is, in fact, a dispute between the United States and China, which is the fundamental reason why there was a Confrontation between China and the United States in 2016.
Back to the point, after the 2012 Huangyan Island incident, the Philippine thief was not dead, and still regarded how to encroach on China's sovereignty in the South China Sea as the core strategy of the Philippines' development in Southeast Asia.
And with the support of the United States on a larger scale, the Philippines decided to continue its South China Sea strategy in a new way, which is also known as the "South China Sea arbitration".
2. Arbitration in the South China Sea
In 2013, the Philippines told the international community that it would "obtain a permanent settlement" of the South China Sea dispute through legal arbitration.
However, this seemingly "just" and "reasonable" solution by the Philippines is an extremely shameless act.
First, because the South China Sea issue does not require arbitration or discussion at all, the South China Sea and its affiliated islands have been an inseparable part of China since ancient times.
Second, as early as the 1970s, the Philippines has illegally occupied many Of China's islands through various means.
The identities of China and the Philippines on the South China Sea issue should be the identities of victims and perpetrators.
However, the Philippines wants to change the perception of the international community through arbitration, confuse the public opinion, and plunder the land where Chinese people have lived for thousands of years through a paper complaint.
Therefore, after learning of the Philippine government's "arbitration plan", the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately expressed its attitude - not to participate, not to accept, not to recognize.
But even though the Chinese government has expressed its attitude strictly, for the Philippine government and the U.S. government, this "arbitration" is originally just a "notice" to China.
From the very beginning, it was not conceivable that China would be involved in arbitration in the South China Sea.
Just under such an attitude of the United States and the Philippines, the "South China Sea Arbitration", a gorgeous "drama" that was exquisitely publicized by the Western media, opened the curtain, and the results can naturally be imagined.
Similarly, along with the South China Sea arbitration, a storm called the Sino-US South China Sea confrontation will inevitably come.
3. Storms in the South China Sea
The China-Philippines South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal was established in 2013 at the request of the Philippines in accordance with Article 286 of the International Convention on the Law of the Sea, and a five-member arbitration panel composed of five foreign arbitrators appointed by President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Shunji Yanai, was also formed.
And the international law of the sea remains, regardless of whether either party in the arbitration participates in the arbitration, the arbitration result will take effect after the end of the arbitration.
That is to say, this arbitration is a mandatory arbitration in China, and combined with the background of the arbitral tribunal, the result of this arbitration is already obvious.
Therefore, for China and the United States, regardless of the outcome of the South China Sea arbitration, it has become nonsense to rely on force to argue about the South China Sea issue.
In response to such a situation, both sides are ready for a military confrontation in the South China Sea.
In the face of the United States, whose military strength far exceeds its own, China is also ready for a backwater war.
After all, in the past four decades, we have retreated too much from the South China Sea issue, but after the South China Sea arbitration case, China has no way back.
After all, "China, not less at all!" ”
Three years later, in 2016, July 12 of that year was the date on which the South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal announced its results.
In the past three years, although the United States has understood that the South China Sea issue must rely on force to make China retreat when necessary, the consequences of launching a war with China are by no means something that the United States can easily bear.
Therefore, before July 12, the United States continued to seek communication with China in various aspects, in an attempt to force China to make concessions through public opinion warfare and negotiation, and to obtain practical benefits from China before the south China Sea arbitration result was announced.
China has also seen the idea of the United States at a glance, and has constantly shown its tough attitude - the South China Sea issue, and will never back down.
Just a week before the verdict was about to be announced, the United States invited China in Washington to participate in a dialogue meeting between the U.S. and Chinese think tanks on the South China Sea.
At this meeting, Mr. Dai Bingguo, a Chinese representative and state councilor, strongly expressed China's attitude:
"I heard that the arbitration result will come out soon, come out, nothing remarkable, but it is a piece of waste paper!"
(Dai Bingguo)
It is China's tough attitude that has made the United States completely strengthen its determination to force China to make concessions through force.
At the same time, the U.S. two-aircraft carrier battle group of the US "Reagan" and "Stanis" led by Harris, commander of the USS Taiping Command, slowly advanced to a place 12 nautical miles outside the nine-dan line in the South China Sea, and was ready to force its way into the South China Sea after the arbitration results came out.
In the face of the attitude of the United States, China did not dare to slacken off, although the gap between China and the United States in naval strength at that time was very huge, but China could not make any concessions on the South China Sea issue.
A "special" naval exercise that lasted from July 5 to July 11 began.
On July 5 of the same year, the three major fleets of the Chinese Navy came out sharply, and more than 100 ships sailed from various areas along the coast of China to the South China Sea.
Among them, there are many strategic nuclear submarines such as 052D, 054A, and even 093 and 094, which can be described as most of the Chinese Navy's family foundation.
Four PLA admirals, led by Chinese Navy commander Wu Shengli, were also ordered by the Central Military Commission to take command in the South China Sea, vowing to respond to the US dual-carrier battle group with the toughest attitude.
On land near the sea, the Rocket Force and the Air Force are also ready, dozens of DF-21D missiles have been deployed in place, and the Air Force's Bomber 6K strategic bombers are circling over and over the South China Sea.
In addition, the PLA soldiers who participated in the military exercise have written suicide notes under the orders of the troops, a large number of outstanding soldiers who have retired have received recall notices from the original units, and the officers who are about to retire or change their careers have also received orders to stand by in situ.
China is ready to fight a back-to-water war with the United States, the world's largest military power.
In the face of the South China Sea issue, China will never back down!
With the end of the military exercise, the time also came to July 12, and the arbitration result that affected the two major powers of China and the United States was finally released.
(Member of the South China Sea Arbitration Panel)
As everyone expected, the South China Sea was "unquestionably" arbitrated to the Philippines.
However, for China, as Mr. Dai Bingguo said, the arbitration result is just a piece of waste paper, and the South China Sea still belongs to China.
But this "waste paper" is a fuse for China and the United States that may trigger World War III.
And just after the arbitration result was released, the Western media, which had been clamoring for a while, began to be silent, because they all knew that war might really come...
Fourth, the dead war
On the evening of the same day, the Chinese troops participating in the exercise began to prepare for the first level, all the ships were ready for battle, and the soldiers pressed bullets into the steel guns in their hands.
The missiles deployed by the rocket forces in the rear are also stirring, all the air force aircraft participating in the exercise are also filled with fuel, and the radars of the units are constantly scanning various areas to guard against the surprise attack of the US aircraft carrier.
On the U.S. side, harris, the commander-in-chief of the standoff, is a complete hardliner, and as the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, he has always been known for his hard-line war attitude.
in Harris
Under his leadership, the U.S. two-carrier fleet was as prepared for battle as China did, waiting for orders from Washington.
Once the WHITE House has any orders to go to war, the US aircraft carriers "Reagan" and "Stennis" will cross the nine-dash line and rush into the South China Sea to seize the South China Sea.
Even, according to the news of the United States, the US aircraft carrier at this time has received the order to go to war, carried out "radio silence", shut down its radio communications, and hidden its coordinates and location without being discovered by China. Wait until you reach the expected position to start the war, and deliver a fatal blow to the Chinese fleet.
And because of this, the South China Sea on that day was indeed dead silent.
Can the United States enter the South China Sea? Will China preemptively attack?
Both Sides are speculating about each other's intentions, but no one knows the right answer.
And just when the war reached an impasse, China launched a "fatal blow" to the US aircraft carrier in another battlefield.
(USS Reagan)
Change the photographs of the war
Just when the Sino-US confrontation in the South China Sea fell into a dead silence and the Sino-US media collectively spoke out, the Chinese media took the lead in breaking this dead silence, and a photo of the Chinese bomb 6K patrolling over Huangyan Island was published by the Chinese media.
This made the media of various countries very surprised, before the war, the Chinese media was silent for so long, but suddenly sent out such a photo, why?
And just when everyone was surprised, the south China Sea came with the news of the withdrawal of the US aircraft carrier.
At this point, the world suddenly realized that the photo published by the Chinese media was The "fatal blow" dealt to the US military by China in this confrontation!
Why is a photo a fatal blow?
There are two reasons for this, one is because Huangyan Island is not within the scope of China's military exercises, and the patrol of 6K to the skies over Huangyan Island suggests that China may have discovered the location of the US aircraft carrier.
Second, because when fighting at sea, the most important information for any party is its own coordinates at sea, and once the coordinates are found by the place, it means that it is about to be destroyed by the enemy's missiles, which is what the military calls "discovery is destruction".
In this case, even if the United States has a dual-carrier battle group and various leading aircraft and ships, it will not be able to fight with Chinese troops.
After all, as long as the coordinates of the enemy are mastered, then in the eyes of the missile, it is a living target.
Therefore, after seeing the photos released by the Chinese side, the US military understood its situation, it was impossible to continue the mission, and finally chose to withdraw.
But the result of this can not help but wonder, why can China grasp the coordinates of the US aircraft carrier? Are U.S. aircraft carriers so easy to spot?
In fact, when fighting at sea, the power of an aircraft carrier battle group is very terrible, especially the aircraft carrier of the US military.
It is understood that without being discovered, an aircraft carrier battle group is capable of easily wiping out a medium-sized country in the world.
The U.S. military dispatched a dual-carrier battle group this time, forcing China to take out most of the navy's family to confront the U.S. military.
As for why China can find the location of the US aircraft carrier, it is a manifestation of China's tactical and military strength.
Because long before the south China Sea confrontation officially began, the US dual-aircraft carrier battle group led by Harris had already entered and exited the South China Sea many times in order to demonstrate, and did not hide its coordinates.
This gives the Chinese military the opportunity to grasp the position of the US aircraft carrier.
At this point, the Sino-US confrontation in the South China Sea ended with the withdrawal of the US aircraft carrier, and the result of the South China Sea arbitration that took three years to reach has completely become a recognized piece of waste paper as Mr. Dai Bingguo said!
(Taiwan media reported a Confrontation between China and the United States in the South China Sea)
After the confrontation
After 2016, with the end of the South China Sea arbitration case and the Sino-US confrontation in the South China Sea, the strategy of the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea also declared bankruptcy.
After that, the Philippines, as a pawn of the United States, also changed its previous attitude toward China.
The newly appointed Philippine President Duterte has visited China many times on the South China Sea issue and expressed a friendly attitude to China.
At the same time, because China's tough attitude on the South China Sea issue has also sounded the alarm bell for the world to declare to the world that the South China Sea is an inseparable part of China's territory, and any country that tries to get involved in the South China Sea will face China's counterattack.
But China also welcomes all its friends, and the China Maritime Silk Road will open up to countries around the world, Chinese people love peace but are never afraid of war.
As the lyrics say, "When a friend comes, there is good wine, and if the jackal comes, he is greeted with a shotgun."
(Shandong)
From a military point of view, looking back at the Sino-US confrontation in the South China Sea five years ago, the Chinese Navy was still overwhelmed by the powerful US military.
In just five short years, the development of china's navy has long exceeded the imagination of the world.
Shandong, Hainan, 054 frigates, 056 frigates, 0.55 million ton destroyers, etc. The new types of ships such as "dumplings" have joined the Chinese Navy.
The launch of the mainland's latest Type 003 aircraft carrier is also coming, and the strength of the Chinese Navy has long been unable to speak of the same day.
After five years, today's China has changed a lot from the China of five years ago, but as a Chinese people, we believe that there is one thing that has never changed, that is, China's attitude towards the South China Sea is still not giving way, China, not less!
Resources:
Gao Shengti on the "Invalidity" of the Sino-Philippine South China Sea Arbitration. International Studies, No. 5, 2015
Zhang Liangming downplayed the "South China Sea Arbitration Case" and eased China-Philippines relations. Southeast Asian Studies, Issue 5, 2016
Huang Fengzhi Liu Rui: Reflections on the Dilemma in the South China Sea in Sino-US Relations. Northeast Asia Forum, No. 2, 2017, No. 130
Liu Jianbo Discusses the Dispute between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Master's thesis of Shandong Normal University
Li Tu: An Analysis of the Impact of the US-Philippine Alliance on the Sino-Philippine South China Sea Dispute. Southeast Asian Studies, No. 5, 2018
Huang Min "Cold War" and "Sovereignty": An Analysis of the Media Framework of the Sino-US Confrontation in the South China Sea. Journal of Journalism and Communication, Vol. 16, No. 4
Editor: Xie Wantang
Editor-in-Charge: Thalia