Since the current Philippine government took office, it has changed the prudent and friendly military and foreign policy of the previous Duterte administration, and has started to illegally occupy China's territorial waters and territories, and has begun to stir up trouble in the South China Sea. Perhaps knowing that it is unable to confront China alone, the Philippine government lured the wolf into the house and introduced a large number of foreign countries to "strengthen its momentum", first opening more military bases to the US military, and then attracting Japan, Australia and other countries to carry out military cooperation with it. According to the Global Times, on April 6, the defense ministers of the Philippines, the United States, Japan, and Australia jointly announced that they would hold joint military exercises on April 7. The exercise was held in the so-called "Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone" and included two Philippine Navy patrol ships, the USS Mobile Littoral Combat Ship of the US Navy, the destroyer USS Akebono of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the frigate USS Valramonga of the Australian Navy, as well as a military aircraft.
From a purely military point of view, this military exercise can be called an out-and-out farce. The Philippine Navy's "Del Bilal" patrol ship is a retired old patrol ship of the US Coast Guard, with a displacement of only 3,000 tons, and has been in service for 57 years. The USS Mobile, the "Independence"-class littoral combat ship, in which the US Navy participated, is considered a cutting-edge warship, and construction only began in 2018. However, the U.S. Navy has made it clear that it will abandon the Littoral Combat Ship as a type of warship, and the first warship of the "Independence" class of littoral combat ships, the USS Independence, has been decommissioned in 2021 and has only been in service for 11 years. The Littoral Combat Ship "Sioux City" was decommissioned in 2023 after only five years of service. The US Navy did not even want to produce a single "Burke"-class destroyer, and only sent a littoral combat ship that was being abandoned to participate in the exercise.
(The United States sends Littoral Combat Ships to participate in the exercise)
As for the "Valamenga" frigate sent by Canada, it has a displacement of only about 3,600 tons, and its combat effectiveness is very weak. The only destroyer with some combat effectiveness is the destroyer "Akebosake" sent by Japan, which belongs to the "Murayu" class, which is the first first-class destroyer in the world to be equipped with an active phased array radar, with a full load displacement of more than 6,000 tons, equipped with MK-41 and MK-48 vertical launch systems, and entered service with the Maritime Self-Defense Force in 2002. However, due to the limitations of the times, the "Akeke" destroyer was not equipped with the "Aegis" air defense system, nor did it use a new mast made of light alloy, and its comprehensive combat capability was far behind the 052D-class destroyers of the Chinese Navy, let alone the 055-class destroyers.
(The Southern Theater organizes naval and air patrols in the South China Sea)
Although from a military point of view, the four-nation military exercise is purely a petty fight, from a political point of view, this military exercise should attract our attention. This is not the first time that the Philippines has organized a four-nation military exercise in the waters around the South China Sea, and the four countries also held a joint military exercise last August, but the main subject of the exercise at that time was joint replenishment at sea, and there were no combat subjects. The exercise, which included anti-submarine warfare, joint communications and mixed formation navigation, was a very standard combat exercise, and it was also the first time that the four countries had conducted a combat exercise in the South China Sea. Moreover, the sea area of this exercise is located in the northwest of Palawan Island, and the average distance between the exercise area and the mainland's territorial waters is only more than 30 kilometers, and it is entirely possible that warships and planes of the Philippines and other countries will cross the border line and illegally harass or even intrude into the mainland's territorial waters and airspace during the exercise.
What is even more alarming is that, according to foreign media reports, on April 11, the leaders of the United States, Japan, and the Philippines will hold a trilateral meeting in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. This intention of engaging in "NATO in the South China Sea" will cause huge hidden dangers to the mainland's security.
In response to the dangerous actions of the Philippines and the United States, Japan, and Australia, the mainland has also taken decisive action. The Southern Theater announced that it would hold a joint naval and air readiness patrol in the sea and airspace over the South China Sea on 7 April, and that all "military activities that disrupt the South China Sea and create hot spots are under control." Although the Southern Theater did not criticize the United States, the Philippines, Japan, and Australia by name, the relevant statements have been very straightforward. From the statement made by the Southern Theater, we can know that our military will closely monitor the military exercises of the United States, the Philippines, Japan, and Australia, and will resolutely drive away once its warships and planes illegally enter China's territorial waters and airspace. On the same day, Jun Zhengping's studio under the People's Liberation Army News and Communication Center also issued an editorial, warning the Philippines not to live up to China's goodwill and to pull back from the precipice as soon as possible.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s South China Sea policy is disappointing, but it is not surprising. After his father Marcos Sr. was overthrown by the Filipino people, if the U.S. government had not accepted them into exile, the Marcos family would likely be liquidated by the angry Filipino people, and Marcos Jr. would not have had the opportunity to win Philippine politics again. That's why Marcos Jr. is making waves in the South China Sea and cooperating with the U.S. strategy to repay the U.S. for its "grace of reconstruction." Moreover, because Marcos Jr. left an extremely bad impression on the Filipino people when he was in power, Marcos Jr. lacked roots in the Philippines, and after coming to power, he needed to establish his prestige by showing toughness to the outside world, and China became the object of Marcos Jr.'s "prestige". This kind of policy may be beneficial to Marcos Jr. personally, but it is definitely harmful to the Philippines as a country, because China is the largest trading partner of the Philippines economically and has an overwhelming military advantage, and the cost of provoking China is beyond the Philippines' affordability.
First, John Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Navy's Indo-Pacific Command, claimed that if the officers and men of the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard died in a confrontation with China, Article 5 of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty would be triggered. Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also supported the Philippines, saying that the South China Sea issue applies to Articles 4 and 5 of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. These remarks have given the Philippine government the impression that if China uses force to defend its territorial integrity, the United States will come to the aid of the Philippines.
But let's not forget, Aquilino also said that the cost of a military confrontation between China and the United States is too high, and he wants to communicate with the Chinese military. Articles 4 and 5 of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty only stipulate that if one party is attacked by a third party, the other party "wouldn't declare that it would take action in accordance with its own constitutional processes." Such a clause does not stipulate that the United States must send troops to aid the Philippines if it is punished by China by force, on the contrary, the treaty has a lot of room for interpretation and ambiguity. It is up to the White House to decide what constitutes "action in accordance with the country's constitutional process." In 2016, the Chinese Navy had only one aircraft carrier, the 10,000-ton Daqi 055 class had not yet been put into service, and the Rocket Force's hypersonic missiles were still under development, and its military strength was far inferior to now. However, at that time, the U.S. military did not dare to directly meet with the PLA, let alone start a war for the Philippines and the now more powerful PLA.
Therefore, the Philippines should really listen to the advice of Jun Zhengping's studio, and not think that it can be fearless by hugging the "thigh" of the United States, on the contrary, it is being tied to the chariot by the United States and becoming cannon fodder for the United States to maintain hegemony and contain China. Now China's military exercises are just a warning to the Philippines, if the Philippines does not know how to rein, the PLA will definitely let people with bad intentions know "why are the flowers so red"!