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After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

author:The third uncle of Hedong

A few days ago, a Chinese tugboat appeared near Ren'ai Jiao, and in various speculations from the outside world, it may tow away the landing ship "Sierra Madre" sitting on Ren'ai Jiao. Perhaps feeling deterred, the Philippines, which is not strong, began to change its tactics, no longer making a hard fuss about the Chinese coast guard that could not break through to intercept and board ships, but placing five navigation buoys with national flags near a number of Chinese islands and reefs in the Nansha to declare "sovereignty".

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Philippines launches navigation buoys

In fact, as early as 24 years ago, the Philippines sank the landing ship "Sierra Madre" on Ren'ai Reef on the grounds of avoiding the wind and waves, and in order to make this broken ship withstand the test of wind and waves, the Philippines also sent people to guard it for a long time. At the same time, various repairs were made to it, and even cement was poured directly into it to become a sea fortress, with the clear purpose of using it as a long-term "reasonable" reason for existence, anyway, not to remove it to achieve de facto occupation.

In order to allow the remaining personnel on board to eat and drink, and then carry out the task of long-term actual "occupation", the Philippine side also regularly transports various supplies on board. We can often see that the Philippines dispatches civilian vessels, patrol boats, and small aircraft to deliver supplies, and in the past, based on the friendly attitude of humanitarian concern and shelving disputes, we did not intercept and disperse. It may be that it is too good to bully and the United States constantly arches the fire behind its back, the Philippines began to hype up from time to time to bring Western journalists, and then followed the whole process to carry out propaganda pressure on public opinion, such behavior certainly cannot be condoned.

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Landing ship "Sierra Madre"

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Landing ship "Sierra Madre"

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Landing ship "Sierra Madre"

After provocation, there is no need to be polite, so interception and displacement by Chinese coast guard ships has become the norm, and the Philippines has made many risky attempts this year with the support of the United States. For example, at the end of April, two Philippine Coast Guard patrol ships, accompanied by American reporters throughout the process, tried to attack a Chinese coast guard ship to intercept and approach the landing ship "Sierra Madre". In order to break through the interception also released the motor boat to take advantage of the chaos to board the ship, under the full interception of China Coast Guard 5201, the two sides were only 37 meters recently almost directly collided with the ship, and finally the Philippine Coast Guard could not stand the pressure and turned and withdrew at a critical moment.

Perhaps in order to comfort the Philippines, which has suffered losses, the United States began to take the initiative to show goodwill and tailor the "common defense mechanism" between the United States and the Philippines to provide a "legal basis" for future US armed intervention. Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Navy's Pacific Command, said that China's frequent interference with Philippine supply operations was "clearly illegal" and that the United States was ready to supply the stranded Philippine landing ship. If the supply is attacked by the Chinese side on the way, it will be considered a violation of the joint defense treaty between the United States and the Philippines, and the US military will intervene by force.

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Fight bayonets at sea

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Tried to board the ship

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Interception at sea

The most effective way to deal with unreasonable provocations is to fight back strongly, and a large tugboat was welcomed in the northeast waters of Ren'ai Jiao a few days ago, just a few kilometers from the reef. This is the Chinese tugboat 19016, 9 meters wide and 60 meters long, small but very powerful, it is said that towing a 10,000-ton battleship is not a problem, let alone an old World War II antique. It had previously sailed between Mischief Reef and Second Thomas Reef, and then anchored directly 2-3 km from Second Thomas Reef, which could tow away illegal tank landing ships if conditions permitted.

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Here comes the tug

Seeing that it could not get cheap at Ren'ai Jiao, the Philippines began to strike in the direction of other islands and reefs in the South China Sea, according to Reuters, the Philippine Coast Guard announced to the public. From May 10 to 12, Philippine coast guard vessels dropped five Philippine-flagged solar navigation buoys in five areas within a 322-kilometer area of the South China Sea. These include Faksin Island, Fire Ai Reef, South Key Island, Double Yellow Sandbar, and Oxbow Reef, which, according to the Philippine Coast Guard, are navigational buoys set up within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines to assert the Philippines' "sovereignty" over these waters.

The main purpose includes two, the first is to protect the so-called safety of sea lanes, and the second is to declare the so-called "sovereignty" of the Philippines in the Spratly Islands. According to the Philippine Coast Guard, it took a total of 3 days to put these five buoys, which not only had the Philippine flag, but even corresponded to the names of nearby islands and reefs. This wave of operations is honestly a little familiar, it belongs to the routine of changing soup without changing medicine, when the Philippines sank the landing ship "Sierra Madre" in Ren'ai Jiao for 24 years on the grounds of avoiding wind and waves. Now it is also engaged in solar navigation buoys, which are obviously aimed at China's Nansha Islands, and navigation buoys are first "enclosure and then cooperate with public opinion propaganda."

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Drop navigation buoys

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Drop navigation buoys

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Drop navigation buoys

In the context of the current "mutual defense mechanism" between the United States and the Philippines, the Philippines has purposefully launched navigation beacons and started before the Chinese tugboat or sand-blowing island reclamation starts, which is a bit of a strong first strike. After all, once the beacon is successfully launched, if it is actively destroyed or confiscated, it may be regarded as an aggressive action, so that the United States and the Philippines have more excuses to hype. Moreover, as the Philippines is taking more and more unilateral actions in the South China Sea, if it is allowed to develop, it is difficult to clean up, so the long pain is not as good as the short pain, while the coast guard is enforcing the law, it can play the role of a fishing vessel and salvage it if necessary.

After the tug was in place, the Philippines changed tactics and laid buoys in Nansha to declare "sovereignty"

Drop navigation buoys

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