According to domestic media reports, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater recently issued such an announcement, which reads as follows: From January 3 to 4, the PLA Southern Theater organized naval and air forces to carry out a routine sea and air patrol in the South China Sea. The troops in the theater are on high alert at all times, resolutely defending national sovereignty, security, maritime rights and interests, and are under control of any military activities that disrupt the South China Sea and create hot spots. Although in this announcement, the PLA did not explain the mission objectives of this sea and air patrol, but considering the current situation in the South China Sea continues to deteriorate, the outside world can see at a glance that the target of the cruise is the United States and the Philippines, as for the reason is also very simple, because recently, the United States and the Philippines have begun to fan the flames of the South China Sea issue again, so it is necessary for the PLA to carry out a strong deterrent action, by releasing clear warning signals, let the United States and the Philippines know that if they continue to carry out provocative actions, the PLA will definitely not sit idly by。
On January 3, the United States and the Philippines conducted a two-day joint air and sea patrol in the South China Sea. Some US media sources pointed out that the launch of the joint naval and air patrol operation shows that the military cooperation between the United States and the Philippines is being upgraded in an all-round way, and the mutual trust and cooperative combat capability of the two sides will also be further enhanced. Different from the previous joint cruises, this US-Philippine joint cruise operation can be said to be elite. The US Navy dispatched the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the USS Princeton guided-missile cruiser, and the USS Kidd and USS Sterler, a total of four surface ships. The Philippine Navy dispatched three offshore patrol ships and one tank landing ship to participate in the Xi, as well as four surface ships. It's just that the gap in performance and strength between these four surface ships of the Philippines and the four surface ships of the United States is visible to the naked eye, and it is completely the United States carrying out joint patrol operations with the Philippines, which also shows very intuitively that the United States is here to support the Philippine platform.
However, the United States has mobilized so many people to directly dispatch an aircraft carrier battle group to cooperate with the Philippine Navy to carry out joint patrol operations, not only to demonstrate the close military cooperation between the United States and the Philippines, but also to have two purposes: First, to show the influence and presence of the United States in the South China Sea by "flexing its muscles" to ensure that the United States' hegemony will not waver, and at the same time to exert military pressure on China. Second, encourage the Philippines in the form of platform support, so that the Marcos administration can confidently and boldly launch provocative actions against China and act against China without any concern. Only in this way can the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" of the United States be smoothly implemented. For the United States, the Philippines is a chess piece and a tool, just like Ukraine in Eastern Europe, don't look at the United States is now dispatching aircraft carriers and destroyers, and is ready to help the Philippines militarily at any time, but at a critical moment, the United States will most likely choose to pick and leave. After all, the Biden administration also said this to Ukraine at the beginning, but after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States chose to stay out of the matter for the first time and did not fulfill its promises. Therefore, if the Marcos government does not wake up in time, today's Ukraine will be tomorrow's Philippines.
Of course, for the United States at this stage, the Philippines is still its goal, so on many public occasions, the US government and military top brass are emphasizing the "U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty" signed by the United States and the Philippines in 1951, declaring that as long as the Philippines is attacked by armed forces in the South China Sea, then the United States will certainly not sit idly by. But here, the Biden administration played a careful trick, that is, it did not clearly explain what the method and content of US military assistance is, whether to directly send troops to help? Or to provide weapons and equipment and other material supplies? At this point, the Biden administration is still adhering to the traditional Xi of "strategic flexibility", anyway, the ultimate goal is to maximize the interests of the United States, as for the life and future of the Philippines, this is not a matter of concern to the United States at all. Considering that the US-Philippine joint patrol and the PLA's routine joint naval and air patrol were carried out at basically the same time, it is not surprising that the naval and air forces of the two sides have already launched a "game confrontation" in the South China Sea, and there may even be a "low-intensity confrontation", after all, the PLA will inevitably take countermeasures against any provocative actions by the United States and the Philippines.
It is true that with the addition of the US aircraft carrier battle group, the Philippine Navy fleet can show off its might during the joint patrol phase, but the Philippines should also know that the era of US military hegemony in the South China Sea and even in the Asia-Pacific region is over. The joint countermeasures of the PLA naval and air forces this time are specifically aimed at responding to the provocative actions that the United States and the Philippines may launch at any time. The naval and air combat forces are only a part of the PLA's regional anti-access combat system, and if they are fully activated, even the US aircraft carrier battle group will not be able to eat and walk around in the end. Some analysts have pointed out that the PLA only carried out surveillance and reconnaissance operations during the first joint patrol between the United States and the Philippines, but this time the PLA directly issued an announcement to launch a reciprocal joint patrol operation, which is to warn the Marcos government that if it does not give up those erroneous provocation plans, the Philippines will regret its actions sooner or later.