Less than 72 hours after breaking through the horseshoe crab reef, the Philippines pulled three more countries to conduct exercises in the South China Sea. At the critical moment, the PLA responded with 20 words, releasing a strong signal. What are the hidden motives behind the series of small moves made by the Philippine side in the South China Sea, and how does the PLA respond to the provocation?
According to the China Coast Guard, on April 7, the Philippines enlisted the United States, Japan, and Australia to carry out joint military exercises in the South China Sea, following the organization of a number of ships to intrude into the waters adjacent to Horseshoe Crab Reef in China's Nansha Islands on April 4. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed that the exercise "underscores our shared commitment to ensuring that all nations can fly, sail and operate freely where international law allows."
For the Philippines, which claims to maintain peace in the South China Sea but constantly creates confrontation and conflict in action, it is not uncommon for the Philippines to continuously invade the waters of islands and reefs in the South China Sea in a short period of time. At the end of last month, the Philippine side illegally landed on the Wire Reef with its front foot and "beached" a warship on Ren'ai Reef with its back foot to transport prohibited construction materials. Now, in less than 72 hours, the Philippine side has continuously gone to the South China Sea to "make trouble", which obviously also has the intention of attracting attention and hyping up the escalation of the situation.
Although the four countries that are holding joint military exercises in the South China Sea insist that the exercise is for the sake of maintaining regional peace and stability, it has no intention of targeting a third country. But anyone with a discerning eye can see that what the United States and its allies have never wanted was "freedom of navigation," but freedom to run amok and "cut sausages" in the South China Sea. By choosing the location of the exercise in disputed waters, it is a concrete demonstration of support for the Philippines and thus encouraging the Philippines to confront China.
Some analysts have pointed out that as the Marcos government has become increasingly dependent on foreign powers for military and security, the South China Sea is becoming a "forward position" for geopolitical conflicts. At present, foreign countries led by the United States are "supporting" the Philippines by providing assistance and joint military exercises, and gradually building the Philippines into a hegemonic tool for the United States to suppress China.
Combined with the upcoming first trilateral summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines, the scale of this exercise is not large, and only five ships and one plane will participate, and it is not as "powerful" as the foreign media boast, and the symbolic meaning and "acting component" of the exercise may be far greater than the actual effect.
Of course, no matter whether this move by the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines is aimed at showing off its force and laying the foundation for future joint military operations, or is it aimed at "flexing its muscles" against China and "endorsing" the Philippines, which has repeatedly failed to invade islands and reefs, it cannot change China's attitude on this matter. It is reported that on the 7th, the Southern Theater of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) organized a joint naval and air patrol in the South China Sea, and responded to the provocative acts of the United States, Japan, the Philippines and other countries in a statement. The Southern Theater of Operations issued a message saying that "all military activities that disrupt the South China Sea and create hot spots are under control."
Through this short 20-word statement, it can be seen that China's attitude on the South China Sea issue has been consistent and has never changed. In the future, no matter what kind of provocative actions the United States, Japan, the Philippines and other countries take in the South China Sea, China will take targeted countermeasures and responses.
China hopes that these countries will understand that creating incidents in the South China Sea with a fluke mentality will not lead to results, and that attempts to form a "small circle" to contain China are doomed to failure.
To put it simply, the reason why the Southern Theater emphasizes "everything under control" is that it hopes that the Marcos administration will "pull back from the precipice" and stop its dangerous attempt to co-opt foreign forces to hype up the South China Sea issue. After all, China is fully prepared, and the PLA's determination to resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial sea security should not be underestimated.