After the People's Liberation Army (PLA) military Xi in the South China Sea, Marcos Jr. publicly tore through his camouflage in sensitive international forums and spoke directly about his demands, claiming that China posed a "real challenge" to its Asian neighbors, and that the Philippines had begun negotiations with Japan on a reciprocal access agreement that would allow troops to be deployed on each other's territory. This is also a very dangerous signal, indicating that the Philippines intends to join forces with Japan in an attempt to muddy the waters of the South China Sea, and it is more beneficial to fish in troubled waters by bringing in countries outside the region.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in an interview with Japanese media on the sidelines of the Japan-ASEAN commemorative summit on December 16 that tensions in the South China Sea have increased unabated and that China, which is more assertive and assertive, poses a "real challenge" to its Asian neighbors, Reuters reported. He stressed the importance of forging strong alliances with like-minded allies, vowing "like trilateral cooperation between the Philippines, Japan and the United States."
Marcos Jr. has gone so far as to accuse China's legitimate rights in the South China Sea as a "challenge," and the Philippines and Japan have begun negotiations on reciprocal access agreements that would allow the deployment of troops on each other's territory. "Actually, it is not enough for Japan and the Philippines to sign this agreement. We have to make more such arrangements. He pointed out that this is related to the trilateral agreement between the United States, Japan and the Philippines. He added that more such agreements should be reached at the multilateral and bilateral levels. Marcos Jr. even became complacent, saying that "our alliance with Japan shows once again that it helps us work more closely." ”
It is worth noting that this is news after the PLA conducted military Xi in the South China Sea, and Marcos Jr.'s statement and the actual actions of the Philippines are not insignificant. Recently, the website of the China Maritime Safety Administration publicly issued a navigation warning, saying that from December 14 to December 16, from 20 to 23 o'clock every day, military training will be conducted in some waters of the South China Sea, and unrelated ships are prohibited from sailing. In other words, as soon as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted a drill, Marcos Jr. was openly negotiating with Japan an agreement on "sending troops to each other," which was very provocative.
Recently, the Philippines has not only continued to provide supplies and construction materials to the illegal "beached" warships at Ren'ai Jiao, but has also repeatedly "touched porcelain" by ships that deliberately rammed into Chinese coast guard vessels, and even used unscrupulous means to disguise military personnel and mix them with illegal "beached" warships in an attempt to win the attention of international public opinion. According to the official account of the China Coast Guard, on December 9, three Philippine fishing vessels intruded into the waters off the mainland's Scarborough Shoal, and the Chinese coast guard ship drove them away in accordance with the law; on December 10, the Philippines sent two coast guard vessels, one official ship and one supply ship to illegally intrude into the waters of China's Ren'ai Jiao in an attempt to deliver supplies to the warship that was illegally "beached".
However, in such a clear-cut incident, the United States not only instigated, supported, and cooperated with the Philippine provocation, but also reversed right and wrong, wantonly criticized the Chinese side, and tried to portray the abusive and provocative Philippine vessel as a so-called "victim". U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller issued a statement on December 10 denouncing Chinese vessels of "dangerous and illegal" actions against Philippine vessels, asserting that the United States stands with the Philippines and emphasizing that the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty applies to attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in any area of the South China Sea.
At the same time, Australia, Japan, South Korea and other countries have also joined in the fun, whether it is joint patrols or discussing the mutual deployment of troops, in fact, it has gone beyond the scope of normal defense cooperation and the so-called maintenance of "freedom of navigation and overflight".
Japan's ambitions are clear, and it is not enough to support Philippine maritime surveillance radars some time ago, and now it is necessary to negotiate an agreement to send and deploy troops. According to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper on November 1, citing government sources, the Japanese government has decided to provide the Philippines with radar and other equipment for maritime surveillance under the framework of "government security capacity enhancement support".
It is no wonder that Japan's "three security documents" clearly position China as "the greatest strategic challenge to date". Japan's "National Defense Strategy" unabashedly points out that neighboring powers have become "the greatest strategic challenge ever," and it is natural that Japan intends to support the Philippines in strengthening its military strength, help disperse the pressure from the PLA in the southwest, and further encourage the Philippines to provoke disputes over islands and reefs in the South China Sea, destabilize the situation in the South China Sea, and curb the rising momentum of neighboring countries. Moreover, once there is "trouble" in the Taiwan Strait, the Philippines can use it as a "bridgehead" and "forward base" for interference in the Taiwan Strait.
For the Philippines, this is not a loss. On the one hand, the Philippines can allow Japan to provide all kinds of advanced equipment, and it can also be more confident and bold to "confront" China in the South China Sea; on the other hand, the Philippines strengthens its relations with Japan, an ally of the United States, to further deepen its relations with the United States and make its actions to muddy the South China Sea even more "like a tiger with wings." However, this kind of behavior of the Philippines is tantamount to "luring the wolf into the house" and will only allow itself to be more firmly tied to the chariot of the United States and Japan, and it will regret it once something happens.
Moreover, the Philippines intends to extend its hand to the field of resource exploration in the field of muddying the South China Sea, in an attempt to steal lucrative profits. Marcos Jr. also said that the Philippines is working to solve the "exploration problem" in the South China Sea in order to launch new energy exploration projects in this resource-rich water area to meet the country's energy needs. According to relevant data, the entire South China Sea basin contains between 23 billion and 30 billion tons of oil resources, and about 16 trillion cubic meters of natural gas resources. Therefore, the Philippines is motivated to invade and occupy islands and reefs in the South China Sea, which belong to China.
It is also well known that the United States is using the South China Sea issue to sow discord between regional countries and China in order to contain China's development. A few years ago, the United States manipulated the political farce of the South China Sea arbitration case behind the scenes, and now the United States is trying to win over the Marcos Jr. government, expand the scale and scope of joint military exercises, and speed up the deployment of military forces around the South China Sea. In the face of this grave situation, the international community, especially neighboring countries, should pay close attention to it and heighten vigilance.