No matter how many times it has suffered losses in Ren'ai Jiao, the Philippines can always find new hype points with the support of the United States, such as taking a CNN reporter to Xianbin Reef by plane to take pictures, and at the same time telling the West that it has been bullied again. According to CNN, there are currently 50 Chinese fishing boats, a Type 056A frigate, and a Chinese coast guard ship gathered near Xianbin Reef in the South China Sea, which are moored in groups of five to seven, but no fishing activity seems to be just cruising in the area. Even some Vietnamese media have said that China is controlling uninhabited islands and reefs in the Spratly Islands through "armed fishing boats".
In fact, for the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, there is no doubt that sovereignty belongs to us, but the navy and air force have been unable to keep up for a while, coupled with the discovery of rich oil and gas resources in the surrounding waters. Against this background, neighboring countries, instigated by the United States and other Western countries, have begun to take the initiative to make trouble, and continue to illegally occupy islands and reefs, resulting in the current relatively passive situation. Although since 1988, the PLA has successively recovered more than 40 Nansha islands and reefs, including Xianbin Reef, Banlu Reef, Banyue Reef, Anda Reef, Xinyi Reef, Wufang Reef, Triangle Reef and Zhongzhou Reef, the provocations of neighboring countries continue. In this case, whether it is necessary to implement breakthroughs on representative islands and reefs to form a deterrent, such as towing the landing ship "Sierra Madre" and blowing sand and filling small islands and reefs.
Coast guard vessels
Type 056 frigate
A large number of fishing boats
Starting from the most representative Ren'ai Jiao, 24 years ago, the Philippines illegally landed the landing ship "Sierra Madre" on Ren'ai Jiao on the grounds that the ship was damaged. Because it came with a purpose, there was a premeditated fact that the landing ship washed the beach to an "objective existence", and then on this basis, it was said that it had "sovereignty" over the island and reef. So far, not only has there been no "self-help" departure, but also a lot of armed soldiers stationed, and at the same time constantly strengthening the ship, so that it can be a constraint on us for a long time.
The Philippine Coast Guard has already carried out many rounds of confrontation around Ren'ai Jiao, and the 1,000-ton luxury coast guard ship against the second-hand 100-ton small ship is, of course, the Chinese coast guard. In April, for example, two Philippine patrol boats besieged the China Coast Guard boat 5201 and even released motorboats to seek a breakthrough, with the two sides reaching a distance of 37 meters. At the end of June, two more Philippine patrol boats escorted a small boat to deliver supplies to the Sierra Madre, this time encountering coast guard boats 4303 and 3103 at a distance of 90 meters.
Coast Guard interception
Coast Guard interception
Coast Guard interception
Although we were successfully intercepted and driven away every time, the problem is that such a move is very passive for us, and we originally have to send troops every day to strictly defend our own territory. The biggest problem came from the landing ship Sierra Madre, which would have always had the Philippines had not been towed or sunk. For China, dragging it is actually very simple, the main problem is the ship's crew, who are active Filipino soldiers. If there is a conflict, it will not only trigger tensions between China and the Philippines, but also may trigger the intervention of the US armed forces, and the consequences will even affect the grand strategy in the South China Sea.
But this broken ship did not get away too passive, you can change the way of thinking first detain, and then tug the ship or sink it directly, with the strength of the PLA to do both at the same time should not be a problem. As long as the personnel on board are safe, the landing ship "Sierra Madre" is very simple to tow or sink, and the benefit is that the passive situation has been rewritten for 24 years, and there is no need to station a large number of troops here in the future. And with lessons from the past, for other countries outside the Philippines, if you want to risk doing similar actions, you have to be careful of being beaten.
Landing ship "Monte Madre"
Landing ship "Monte Madre"
Send supplies
In addition, the action of blowing sand and reclaiming the island was halted for a while because the Philippines adopted a strategy of showing favor to China. But now that the United States has returned to the South China Sea, it must be taken seriously if it continues to instigate trouble, and since the neighboring countries want to fish in troubled waters, then simply restart the blowing sand and filling the island to deal with it with a tough attitude. Classify the various types of islands and reefs currently on hand, select suitable targets, fill in the deployment of troops in order, and then use coast guards and fishing boats to achieve daily patrols and effective supervision. In the future, acts such as illegal beach sitting in the Philippines, or dropping navigation buoys in the surrounding waters to swear so-called "sovereignty", will be effectively curbed, and can no longer catch waves.
Blowing sand to fill the island
Blowing sand to fill the island