The recent dispute in the South China Sea, which was provoked by the Philippines, has become a hot spot of great concern to the outside world, and as a result, relations between China and the Philippines are becoming more and more tense day by day. China has repeatedly made representations to the Philippine side and conveyed its goodwill to resolve the matter through dialogue and consultation, but Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos seems to think that the current situation is not big enough and does not want to reconcile with China. However, Marcos, who wanted to continue the struggle with China, suffered from his limited strength, so he personally came to the United States and Japan for help. Last month, Marcos met with U.S. President Joe Biden on the occasion of attending the APEC summit in San Francisco, and then traveled to Hawaii to visit U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Aquilino.
After the "success" of asking for help from the United States, Marcos went to Japan again in the past two days, found Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and tried to get close to Japan's "calf". After a bit of walking around, Marcos did ask for something. According to the Philippine Department of National Defense, the Philippine Air Force received the FPS-3/MEs active phased array long-range aerial surveillance radars provided by Japan on Tuesday, and the two radars will be deployed at Wallace Air Force Base, located in the westernmost part of the Philippine island of Luzon. Geographically, this air base is relatively close to both the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and the Philippine Air Force deploys such important weapons and equipment here, which is aimed at China, which is very obvious, and wants to take care of both.
According to public information, FPS-3/MEs is a large-scale active phased array radar developed by the Japanese arms giant Mitsubishi Electronics, which mainly undertakes the tasks of air surveillance and command and early warning, and is the core equipment of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force. According to the data released by Mitsubishi Electronics, the maximum detection range of FPS-3/MEs can reach 600 kilometers. According to this detection range, the monitoring range of the FPS-3/MEs deployed at Wallace Air Force Base is sufficient to cover most of the airspace in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. In other words, as long as the Chinese military aircraft enters the detection range, the Philippine Air Force will be able to detect it. It is reported that the Philippines has purchased a total of 4 sets of FPS-3/MEs from Japan, and this time two sets will be delivered first, and the remaining two sets will be delivered by 2025. It is not difficult to see that at this point in time when the dispute between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea is escalating, Japan rushed to deliver FPS-3/MEs to the Philippines, which is to help the Philippines fight against China.
It is worth noting that the delivery of FPS-3/MEs to the Philippine Air Force this time is only a small part of Japan's military aid to the Philippines, not long ago, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave Marcos a big gift when he visited the Philippines, aiding 5 sets of shore-based surveillance radars, these radars will be deployed in the coastal areas of the Philippines, the FPS-3/MEs in front are to monitor air targets, and these 5 sets of radars are used to monitor sea targets, and Japan is considered to have given the Philippines a complete set of belongings. It is clear that Fumio Kishida wants to emulate US President Joe Biden's strategy and turn the Philippines into a sword against China. With the frequent high-level movements of Japan and the Philippines and Japan's provision of military assistance to the Philippines, it is not difficult to see that Japan is determined to confront China to the end.
After the high-level meeting between China and the United States earlier, it was reported that Fumio Kishida also wants to hold a similar level of meeting with the Chinese side. If there is such an idea, this plan will naturally be welcomed by China. However, the premise of the welcome is that Japan will not make trouble and will not target China, and if it continues to make small moves against China, harm China's interests, and threaten China's security, there will be little point in talking about it.