Although the US leadership has repeatedly claimed that it has no intention of breaking out a "new cold war" with China, the actual actions of the United States are clearly contrary to its words. According to a number of media reports, after attending the APEC summit, US Vice President Harris visited the Philippines and met with the new Philippine President Marcos Jr. According to Reuters, Harris proposed in his talks with Marcos Jr. that once there is a conflict in the South China Sea, the US military will definitely "send troops to assist in defense." In addition, Harris also visited Palawan, which is economically backward and has never been visited by a U.S. leader before, but the island is the closest island in the Philippines to the South China Sea.
For a long time, the United States has harbored the evil intention of disrupting the South China Sea, but in recent years, a series of US actions in the South China Sea have not achieved the desired results. Now that ASEAN countries and China are getting closer, the two sides once became each other's largest trading partners, and the territorial disputes between China and Vietnam and China and the Philippines that were previously boiling over China and the Philippines are now gradually cooling.
Just a few years ago, the United States was able to gather several ASEAN countries to hold military exercises in the South China Sea, but now the United States can only stir up trouble in the South China Sea alone, and few responders. In the past, as soon as the United States hyped up the South China Sea issue, Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries jumped out to make a grand statement. Now, however, Vietnam has repeatedly made overtures to China, and the two prime ministers spoke by phone this month, saying they would "maintain communication channels on land borders and maritime issues, expand consensus, properly handle differences, and maintain a peaceful and stable environment." The Philippines' attitude toward China has also improved significantly, and Duterte's pro-China stance is well known. This change in the situation has made the United States angry and anxious, and to avoid a complete exit of the United States in the South China Sea, Harris must sow discord between China and the Philippines and other countries.
Especially during the G20 summit, the leaders of China and the Philippines held a meeting, and Marcos Jr. said that he would visit China early next year. Before Harris' visit to the Philippines, Marcos Jr. also informed the Chinese side in advance and expressed the hope that the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea will be adopted as soon as possible. If the United States does not disrupt the situation, the South China Sea issue is likely to be resolved smoothly, so now Harris will lure the Philippines in any case to rekindle its ambition to illegally occupy China's islands and reefs and prevent the South China Sea issue from being resolved. At present, the attitude of the Philippines is also ambiguous, it seems to be in the process of vacillation and entanglement, after all, the Philippines has been a colony of the United States for a long time, and the pro-American faction has deep roots in the Philippines. During Duterte's administration, he can suppress pro-American factions with his tough skills and political ability, but Marcos Jr.'s ability is not as good as Duterte's according to foreign media critics, and his roots in the Philippines are not deep, so the Philippines' attitude towards China may swing in the future.
If the Philippine government is sober and wise enough, it should not be moved by Harris's provocation. First of all, the media has revealed that the US military fled without a fight during the Sino-US confrontation in the South China Sea in 2016, and the then commander of the US Pacific Command Harry Harris was dismissed, which strongly shows that the US military does not have the ability to defeat the Chinese army in the South China Sea. Six years later, China's advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles and 055-class destroyers have been deployed on a large scale, and the possibility of the US military defeating China in the South China Sea is no longer possible. Second, Harris is only a vice president, according to the relevant laws of the United States, the vice president does not hold real power, and his only role is to become president immediately when the president dies unexpectedly, so as to avoid the government falling into a leaderless situation. Since Harris has no real power, there is still a question mark over whether the promised "assistant defense" can be fulfilled. All in all, although Harris claims to "assist in the defense of the Philippines, it is not certain whether the US military will come to the South China Sea, and even if it comes, it will not be able to defeat the PLA." Therefore, Harris's provocation is just an empty promise.
In the past few years, under the leadership of Duterte, the Philippines has put aside territorial disputes and worked with China to make great progress in its economy and society. And the eyes of the Filipino people are also bright, even in the late stages of his administration, Duterte's approval rating is at a high of 80%, far exceeding that of other Philippine presidents. Facts have indisputably proved that only by making good friends with China can the Philippines get a good development environment; And if it acts as a pawn for the United States to mess up the South China Sea and make China an enemy, it will definitely end up in economic recession and social chaos. Hopefully, the Philippine government will think twice and not be tempted by empty U.S. promises to squander Duterte's rich political legacy.