Is the Philippines succumbing to weakness or testing China's bottom line?
Recently, the Philippines has provoked China in the South China Sea and is willing to be a pawn of the United States.
But just as 2023 was coming to an end, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suddenly changed his attitude, claiming: "The Philippines will solve the problem on its own and does not need the United States to intervene." ”
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Marcos Jr., who suddenly changed his attitude
Towards the end of the year, the international situation is not peaceful, and the Philippines is engaged in a series of troubles in the South China Sea. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Philippines has no strength to compete with us in its own size, and there must be support and assistance from the United States behind it.
However, just recently, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in an interview: Although the United States has always helped the Philippines patrol the sea, the Philippines will solve the Ren'ai Jiao issue by itself and does not need the United States to intervene.
As soon as this speech came out, it quickly aroused the attention of all parties.
It also made the outside world speculate whether Marcos Jr.'s statement was to ease relations with China, or to take the initiative to draw a line with the United States.
In fact, this is not the first time that the Philippines has made trouble in the South China Sea. Since Marcos Jr. came to power, the relationship between China and the Philippines has changed very much.
In particular, after Marcos Jr.'s visit to the United States, his actions against China have become bigger.
The question of Second Thomas Reef was raised again. It is an indisputable fact that Ren'ai Jiao is China's inherent territory. The Philippines thinks that it will be able to wrestle with China by building a beached boat at Ren'ai Jiao, but this is obviously wishful thinking.
However, the Philippines is obviously not aware of this problem, and not only has it not relented in its efforts on the Ren'ai Jiao issue, but has repeatedly provoked it.
The Philippines' move has made the situation in the entire South China Sea very tense. Countries around the South China Sea are also very worried that the Philippines will disturb the South China Sea.
And as the Philippines has become more and more excessive, the mainland's response to the Philippines has become more and more harsh. From asking the Philippine side to act prudently, to warning the Philippines that what it is doing is extremely dangerous, to not sitting idly by, I hope the Philippine side will act on its own.
It is not difficult to see that China's patience with the Philippines has gradually reached its limit.
It is precisely because of this that Marcos Jr.'s statement is considered by the outside world to be "soft". But is that really the case?
Fears of China's "turning the other cheek" also have other considerations
As the world's second largest economy, China's comprehensive strength should not be underestimated. After the mainland issued warnings to the Philippines one after another, it was actually expected that the Philippines would make such a response.
After all, the Philippines does not have the ability and the toughness we face.
However, Marcos Jr. stated that he would solve the problem on his own, how sincere he was, and whether he would turn his face again, is still unknown.
After all, we have all experienced the speed of changing faces in the Philippines. Marcos Jr.'s statement this time is likely to be a delaying tactic, in order to continue to test China's bottom line.
In its statement, the Chinese side stressed that the Philippines should not try to bring in external forces to participate in the Ren'ai Jiao issue.
Everyone understands that the Philippines is followed by the United States.
But if the Philippines really puts external forces on the table and continues to make peace with the United States, the nature will be different. If the Philippines insists on doing so, it will have to bear the consequences, and the Philippines clearly understands this.
In addition to fearing that China will turn its face, the countries surrounding the South China Sea have been as quiet as chickens after the Philippines' one-off operation on the South China Sea issue.
It has also made the Philippines more and more unconfident. The Philippines is making trouble in the South China Sea with the intention of pulling neighboring countries together to put pressure on China.
That's why Marcos Jr. made a lot of nonsense about the South China Sea issue at previous ASEAN meetings.
However, what the Philippines did not expect was that except for Japan, which gave the Philippines a response, other ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries, did not respond to the Philippines.
Obviously, neighboring countries do not want the Philippines to mess up the South China Sea. Because once the situation in the South China Sea really changes, these neighboring countries will inevitably be implicated.
Especially now that the United States has been fighting on two fronts, and if the South China Sea opens up another battlefield, the United States is simply unable to deal with it.
The Philippines' hope that the United States will help it is tantamount to a fantasy. It's a pity that other countries have understood the current situation, but the Philippines is still in the dark and unwilling to wake up from a dream.
There has never been a free lunch in the world, and since the Philippines has been stirring up trouble, the United States and the West have begun to create public opinion in the international community, claiming that China is "bullying the small with the big".
The obvious purpose of the United States and the West and the Philippines in doing so is to arouse national sentiment in the Philippines and to seek sympathy in the international community. The help of the United States and the West has also emboldened the Philippines.
The Philippines thinks that the United States is the "big brother" standing behind it, but the fact is that behind the enthusiasm of the United States is a black heart.
It is hoped that the Philippines will use its position in the South China Sea to stir up the situation in the South China Sea and achieve the goal of containing China. For the United States, friendship with the Philippines is part of its strategic layout.
But as far as the Philippines is concerned, offending China will do more harm than good to the Philippines.
China is a neighbor that the Philippines cannot move from, and the two sides still have very close trade ties, and a large number of tourists fly to the Philippines every year. The Philippines should weigh clearly which is more important.
Since Marcos Jr. has stated that he will rely on himself to solve the problem, he hopes that the Philippines will do what he says.
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