According to media reports, the South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness Platform, a Chinese think tank, recently released news that the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier battle group of the US Navy entered the South China Sea through the Bass Strait on the 26th, and took off and landed a number of carrier-based aircraft in the airspace over the area. At the same time, two B-52H strategic bombers of the US Air Force also entered the airspace over the South China Sea on the same day.
While the United States has been overwhelmed by many conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, it has even gone out of its way to send its already stretched naval and air forces to the South China Sea, clearly in an attempt to bolster the Philippines. You must know that China and the Philippines have recently had a tense confrontation in the waters near Ren'ai Jiao. In this regard, US President Joe Biden recently said that the US reaffirmed its commitment to the security protection of the Philippines and demanded that China stop "coercive and threatening behavior" against Philippine ships in the South China Sea. However, China's response was also unceremonious: the United States is not a party to the South China Sea issue and has no right to intervene in the issue between China and the Philippines.
As long as you don't think on your knees, it is clear that the United States has brought aircraft carriers and bombers to the South China Sea to support the Philippines, which is actually a typical manifestation of fierce inwardness. After all, the United States now has to deploy a large number of naval and air forces in the Middle East and Europe, and at the same time deploy heavy forces in Northeast Asia to deal with North Korea. Therefore, whether the United States is sending aircraft carriers or bombers in the South China Sea at this time, it is at most a formality, mainly to make the Philippines feel that the United States is fulfilling its so-called "security commitments" to it.
Of course, the entry of US aircraft carriers and bombers into the South China Sea on the same day, whether it is to fool the Philippines or play tricks on China, is the best, or free, sparring partner for China's naval and air forces to enhance their combat capabilities. Therefore, on the same day that the US aircraft carrier entered the South China Sea, according to media reports, Taiwan's defense department said on the evening of the 26th that the PLA Shandong aircraft carrier formation also crossed the Bass Strait and entered the western Pacific Ocean on the same day. In addition, dozens of fighters of various types, including early warning planes, strategic bombers, anti-submarine planes, fighter planes, and unmanned aerial vehicles, also appeared in the sea and airspace around Taiwan Island on the same day.
On the same day that the US aircraft carrier crossed the Bass Strait into the South China Sea, the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier squadron also crossed the strait into the western Pacific, which was not as simple as knocking on the Taiwan authorities. Obviously, the Chinese and US aircraft carriers passed through the same strait on the same day, and although the two went in different directions, it was by no means an accidental coincidence. The US aircraft carrier entered the South China Sea to support the Philippines, while the Chinese aircraft carrier went out of the western Pacific with a clear goal, that is, to directly penetrate the US military base in Japan, the Asia-Pacific military nest. If you don't get it right, the track of the Shandong aircraft carrier will extend further and it will go straight to Guam, the central hub of the United States in the second island chain in the Pacific. Therefore, although Chinese and US aircraft carriers are not in the same sea area, they are actually an integral part of the military game between major powers.
As far as the United States is concerned, at a time when the two conflicts in the Middle East and Europe are intensifying, its aircraft carrier running to the South China Sea to support the Philippines seems to mean that it wants to save face and suffer the crime. After all, the United States has already stretched its naval and air forces, and now it has to fight for its life in the Middle East, Europe, Northeast Asia, and the South China Sea at the same time. In contrast, when responding to the provocations of the US military, the Chinese side is waiting for work, and has time to play with them anyway. If the US aircraft carrier has the ability to stay in the South China Sea for a longer period of time, it may still have the opportunity to take a picture of the Chinese aircraft carrier in the South China Sea when it returns after the Shandong aircraft carrier completes its mission.
The United States does not dare to provoke a military conflict with China over the Taiwan Strait or the South China Sea issue, and most countries in the region are not willing to play with the United States. Therefore, whether the country's aircraft carrier or bomber flew to the South China Sea to make trouble, at best, it was an attempt to prove to its Asia-Pacific allies that it still has the ability to provoke China. However, the bluff of the United States does not mean that it has the ability to protect its allies, for the simple reason that once the war comes, the US military is unable to protect itself in China's surrounding areas, so can it still take care of the safety of its allies?
Therefore, the Philippines' superstitious belief in the so-called security protection "commitments" of the United States is in essence setting itself on fire. After all, the South China Sea is a playground for major powers to play strategic games, and small countries would do well to step aside to avoid being affected. In this regard, the vast majority of countries in Southeast Asia have wisely refused to take sides between China and the United States. But the Philippines is still like a stunned young man who doesn't know what to do, and he is moving forward vigorously when the elephants are wrestling. Once the two sides fight, they may be trampled to pieces at any time.