What kind of details did a "pro-Philippines" article in the US media expose? What kind of details did Marcos Jr. make?
After the Philippines went to Ren'ai Jiao to provoke and was driven away by the water cannons of the Chinese coast guard, two very "bizarre" things happened.
The first thing is that in order to support the allies of the United States, the American media "New York Times" published an article entitled "Supporting the Philippines" the next day, entitled "What is it like to be the target of China's water artillery."
In the article, a description of the friction incident in the waters off Scarborough Shoal appears that the author said that the Philippine ship departed from a port in Bataan Province in the western Philippines and sailed for 18 hours on the rough high seas before arriving near the so-called "Scarborough Shoal" (i.e., "Scarborough Shoal" on the mainland).
After all, what the United States has always described is "freedom of navigation", that is, the waters of the South China Sea are all open seas in the eyes of the United States, which is also the most common reason for the US military to frequently approach mainland islands and reefs.
However, from the perspective of the Philippines, it is very embarrassing, because the Philippines claims to have so-called "sovereignty" over Scarborough Shoal and Ren'ai Jiao for only one reason, that is, it is very close to the Philippines, of which Scarborough Shoal is about 100 kilometers away from the Philippine mainland, and Ren'ai Jiao is 200 kilometers away from the Philippines.
But the New York Times article says that Philippine vessels/sail on the high seas all the way, that is, there is no so-called "exclusive economic zone" at all, which is tantamount to openly denying the Philippines' sovereignty claims, which is quite embarrassing.
In the second incident, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Brawner, boarded the "beached" warship.
On December 10, during the Philippine provocation at Second Thomas Shoal, Brauner disguised himself and boarded the "beached" warship Sierra Madre on a Philippine transport ship, and took photos and uploaded them to social media.
At the beginning, what the Philippine military wanted to promote was Brawner's brave and fearless walk to the front line in the face of China's water cannons, which also made domestic netizens very angry.
However, things have fermented so far, and the direction of public opinion has changed somewhat.
First of all, some netizens questioned on social media that if China really intercepted all the Philippine ships, how could Brawner sneak up on the "beached" warship? Therefore, there can only be one conclusion on this matter, Brawner boarded the ship at Ren'ai Jiao, not because of his bravery, but because China allowed him to let go.
Moreover, Brawner's behavior did not prove his courage, at least his courage did not exist in makeup and role-playing, on the contrary, Brawner used his personal experience to illustrate one thing, that is, China, as promised, did not intercept the Philippine ships that provided food and water to the "beached" warships, but only intercepted the ships transporting construction materials.
This also shows that the Marcos Jr. government's public opinion war has not had the desired effect.
The Philippine media "Manila Times" directly questioned the Marcos Jr. government in its commentary that China has been accused of "aggression" and "provocation" just by using water cannons to drive away Philippine ships in waters under its control.
The former spokesman of the president of the Philippines also published an article in the newspaper, denouncing the Philippines for demonizing China, its irrationality and utter ignorance, even to the point of madness. The article points out that since the United States, especially the Obama administration, began to implement the "pivot to the Asia-Pacific" policy, China has been portrayed as an "aggressor" in the South China Sea. The article says that the United States has brainwashed Filipinos too easily, because most of the Filipino elite are brown-skinned little Americans, and military and coast guard officials have also eaten, drunk and had fun on "Xi trips" in the United States. The lie that the Philippines has absolute sovereignty over the disputed islands because the Philippines' exclusive economic zone covers the disputed islands is completely misleading.
Late at night on December 20, Philippine Foreign Minister Manalo called to try to communicate with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the disputed issue in the South China Sea, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi directly issued a warning: "China-Philippines relations are at a crossroads, and the Philippines must act cautiously when faced with the choice of which way to go." ”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi made it very clear on the phone that if the Philippines insists on going its own way and "cooperates" with external forces, China will defend its rights in accordance with the law and resolutely respond.
So, what is the Philippine response?
On December 21, Marcos Jr. attended and spoke at the 88th anniversary of the founding of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in which he continued to praise the Philippines' behavior in the South China Sea as "courageous" and not "intimidated" by tensions, and specifically praised Brawner's "heroic behavior" in boarding the "beached" warship, and asked Filipino soldiers to improve their combat readiness to deal with "emerging threats."
Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro also made a public statement on the same day, declaring that the Philippines would continue to "protest" in the South China Sea, and also planned to form a multinational coalition with Britain, France, India, and other countries next year to hold joint patrols in the South China Sea.
It seems that the Philippines has made a choice at a "crossroads".