The PLA's "island-encircling exercise" has not only frightened Taiwan independence, but the Philippines, which has just decided to open the location of a new military base to the US military, has also taken its seat with a weak heart. Philippine experts believe that the PLA's "island-encircling exercise" is also a warning to the Philippines.
A few days ago, in response to Tsai Ing-wen's visit to the United States and to deter collusion between the United States and Taiwan, the PLA launched a new round of "island-encircling exercises."
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has launched a new round of exercises to encircle Taiwan Island
The island-encircling exercise, which lasted for three days, was a joint operation involving navy, land, air force, rocket forces, and other services and arms. During the exercise, the PLA also displayed various fighter jets, new shore-to-shore missiles, and other military equipment, and for Taiwan independence elements who attempt to "rely on the United States to seek independence," the island-encircling exercise was a stronger deterrent.
But what is interesting is that the iron fist of the People's Liberation Army not only scared Taiwan independence, but also the Philippines, which is not far from the Taiwan Strait region, apparently took its seat. After the PLA began the "island-encircling exercise," the Manila Times published the views of a Filipino expert, Rigoberto Tiglau, who believed that China's exercise was likely to be related to the new military bases opened by the Philippines to the US military.
Rigoberto said there was a basis for this, because after the Philippines confirmed the location of four new military bases open to the United States, the People's Liberation Army announced that it would begin three-day military exercises around the island.
It is reported that the four new military base locations mentioned by Rigoberto refer to the location of four new US military bases announced by the Philippine President's Office earlier this month. Previously, Marcos revealed that the new military bases open to the US military will be scattered throughout the Philippines, but according to the latest location of these four military bases open to the US military announced by Marcos's office, they are not scattered throughout the Philippines, but mostly concentrated on the Philippine island of Luzon facing the mainland Taiwan Strait. Of these four military bases, three are concentrated on Luzon, and the remaining one is Balabac Island in Palawan province, near the mainland Spratly Islands.
Four new military bases in the Philippines open to the U.S. military
It can be seen that compared with the South China Sea region, the United States obviously prefers to focus on the Taiwan Strait region, and the Philippines is the best springboard for the United States to try to interfere in the situation in the Taiwan Strait, after all, among these four military bases, the northernmost Camilo Osias naval base is only 400 kilometers away from our island of Taiwan.
This further illustrates that although US Vice President Harris did not hesitate to go to Palawan Island around the South China Sea in order to expand military cooperation with the Philippines, threatening to "stand with the Philippines on the South China Sea issue," in fact, the US military wants to set up camp military bases close to the mainland Taiwan Strait area, and the United States relies heavily on using the Philippines to interfere in the mainland Taiwan Strait issue, rather than really caring about the Philippines' concerns in the South China Sea, and threatening to stand with the Philippines. It is just a pretext to expand military cooperation with the Philippines.
For the Philippines, the introduction of US military forces is to solve the differences with China in the South China Sea and want to threaten China to a certain extent, but because the United States cares more about the Taiwan Strait issue, the Marcos government's move may not only fail to achieve its goal, but may also become US cannon fodder for the first time when there is really any conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan Strait issue is not a matter of concern to the Philippines, but now it has been put on the United States on this chariot that interferes with the situation in the Taiwan Strait, and it has gone up, and it is impossible for the Philippines to go down if it wants to go down.
Philippine President Marcos
It is precisely because of this that Rigoberto humbly believes that the PLA's island-encircling exercise is also a response to the Philippines' opening of military bases to the US military to a certain extent. It is worth mentioning that as a senior writer for the Manila Times, Rigoberto also realized that it is inevitable that China will not be able to watch the United States make a big fuss about Philippine military bases near the Taiwan Strait, so Rigoberto believes that China is likely to fill the island on Huangyan Island as a response to the Philippines. Simply put, the day Marcos reopened the US military base was when China rebuilt Scarborough Shoal.
As an island in the South China Sea only more than 200 kilometers from Luzon, Scarborough Shoal must be the best choice to deter the Philippines, after all, Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is also located on Luzon Island, if we reclaim the island, build docks and airports, and deploy more aircraft and warships and other military facilities on Scarborough Shoal, it is undoubtedly the biggest threat to the Philippines.
And we have not been building on Scarborough Shoal for a long time, precisely because we know that building Scarborough Shoal into a military base is a great threat to the Philippines, and we have not done so in order not to undermine the Sino-Philippine relations under Duterte.
Chinese bombers patrol Huangyan and other reefs
But obviously, the situation is very different now, since the Philippines opened four more military bases to the United States, the number of Philippine military bases available to the US military has now increased to nine, which is not a happy situation for us. Therefore, Rigoberto's idea may become a reality, after all, there was news a while ago that the "Sky Whale" dredger has left for the south, although the specific destination of the "Sky Whale" is not yet known, but in view of the recent performance of the Philippine government, even going to Scarborough Shoal is not surprising.
However, what the Philippines needs to realize is that this mouth of tension in the South China Sea was first drawn by the Marcos government and has nothing to do with China, if it were not for the Marcos government's insistence on introducing the US military into the South China Sea and cooperating with the US intervention in the Taiwan Strait, how could China make this series of actions? Rigoberto's idea just shows that in the matter of adding US military bases, in fact, Filipinos are also weak-hearted, knowing that they are sorry for China first.