Starting April 7, the United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will send their warships into the South China Sea off the northwest coast of Palawan Island in the Philippines to carry out their first formal joint military exercises. The main content of this military exercise is to conduct anti-submarine warfare, which has a great implication of taking actual combat as the premise.
The reason why this is the first formal joint military exercise between the United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines is that although the four countries have also conducted joint naval exercises before, the four countries were relatively perfunctory at that time, and each other's warships nodded and said hello, and even group photos became a major part of the exercise.
But this time, Japan and Australia sent their own "anti-submarine" frigates, the United States sent littoral combat ships, and the Philippines also dispatched a number of patrol ships, which are many times larger than before.
At a time when the situation in the South China Sea is sensitive and tense, the United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines have suddenly launched large-scale military exercises in the South China Sea. Not long ago, the Philippine yacht "Yunaza May" tried to break into Ren'ai Jiao and was directly destroyed by the Chinese coast guard with water cannons.
Soon after the incident, Marcos Jr. began to publicly relent, making statements that China and the Philippines should maintain friendly relations. But now the Philippines has invited the United States, Japan, and Australia to jointly conduct exercises in the South China Sea, and has chosen a place only 200 kilometers away from Ren'ai Jiao.
The warships dispatched by the United States, Japan, and Australia are mainly "maritime anti-submarine."
The Littoral Combat Ship dispatched by the United States this time is a very advanced warship, and it should be the fastest coastal combat ship in the world so far. Although the overall is not very large, the armament equipped with is advanced enough to carry helicopters, armored vehicles, small attack units, small boats, etc.
Australia dispatched not only frigates but also P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft, which are specially designed to carry out maritime patrols, reconnaissance and anti-submarine operations.
This time, Japan dispatched the "Murayu" and the new "Mogami" class frigates, which also have strong anti-submarine capabilities. As for the Philippines, it is not outstanding at all in this regard, although it has also dispatched a lot of warships, but it is not enough at all, it is purely to make up the number.
The weapons and equipment dispatched by the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines this time all revolve around the four-word "maritime anti-submarine warfare." If the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines confront the PLA in the South China Sea in wartime, they can use these antisubmarine weapons to confront each other. Even now, it can be used to collect data, such as detecting underwater shipping lanes in the South China Sea and deploying anti-submarine sonar, in preparation for a possible future war in the South China Sea.
Under China's blockade, U.S. warships rarely enter the South China Sea for reconnaissance, so the U.S. has not had much information on the bottom of the South China Sea in recent years. If China and the Philippines really come to the point of starting a war, and the United States wants to completely contain China's development through this war and send troops to help, then this military exercise is the most critical step and the best time for the US military to collect data in the South China Sea.
The location chosen by the Philippines this time is also very interesting, it is so close to Ren'ai Jiao, it is nothing more than an attempt to let the Chinese side know that even if the Philippines itself is weak, the Philippines has the strength to win over the help of powerful countries. As far as the Philippines is concerned, if it can use this opportunity to deter China, or if there is a misfire incident at Ren'ai Jiao, forcing the US military to stop, then the war will be settled.
Once the war starts, the US military that is forced to leave the country will become the biggest confidence of the Philippines, and this Sino-Philippine war will not necessarily end in the defeat of the Philippines.
Does the Philippines intend to launch a joint naval exercise once a year, just to rise to the military level?
According to reports, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. plans to go to Washington on April 11 to meet with the leaders of Japan and the United States and sign a trilateral agreement.
As for what is written in this agreement, the Philippine side did not disclose, but the Philippine side revealed that a large joint military exercise like this may be held once a year. If this happens every year, then the US military's actions in the South China Sea will be "justified" and will not be conducive to the mainland's control of the South China Sea. In particular, if the location of the four-nation military exercises in the future has been so close to Ren'ai Jiao, maybe one day the Philippines will suddenly break into Ren'ai Jiao and realize permanent occupation.
Zhang Jie, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the Philippines' move is to "strengthen" its own military backwardness by attracting other external forces, so as to break through the strong pressure from China on the military front.
But on the same side, if joint military exercises are held every year and the location is always so sensitive, the possibility of accidental friction between China and the United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will be very high, and according to the nature of the Philippines and Japan to provoke trouble, accidental friction may escalate to the military level, which is obviously not conducive to the stability of the South China Sea.
Taking 10,000 steps back, even if it does not trigger a war, the Philippines will attract the influence of the United States, Japan, and Australia to ASEAN, which will undoubtedly be a disaster for other ASEAN countries. Other ASEAN countries have always wanted the United States and other forces to intervene in ASEAN and oppose China, because this would destroy the peace and order that ASEAN had built with great difficulty.
Therefore, in addition to being recognized by external forces, the Philippines' actions are strongly opposed by its neighbors. What's more, even if the Philippines wants to rely on military exercises to make things happen, and a war breaks out between China and the Philippines, will the US military definitely end up?
The answer is obvious, the United States will not end. The United States is very jealous of China's current strength, so its military action against China has always been thunderous and rainy, and the shock is deterrence, but it is also very careful not to have an incident of misfire. With the cautious appearance of the United States, is it possible to break its principles for the sake of a single Philippines? Unless the Philippines becomes US territory, perhaps for the sake of "homeland" security, the US military may end up?