During the maritime conflict some time ago, the Philippines discovered that China's coast guard is much stronger than its own, and even if the US Navy is "on the side" for them in their illegal "fishing protection" operations in the South China Sea, China still uses forceful means to drive them away without getting the slightest benefit. Moreover, when the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines conducted maritime patrols in the South China Sea, the Chinese People's Liberation Army did not panic at all; at the same time, it conducted high-profile combat patrols in the South China Sea, clearly laid out China's position, and let the exercise that was originally planned for one day end hastily in half a day, and then came out again to express its hope for dialogue with China.
However, does the Philippines really sincerely want to live in peace with China? When the reporters of the "Global Daily" set foot on Philippine soil, they discovered some problems, and in Philippine newspapers and mainstream media, they were still propagating the theory of the China threat, and even reported at large lengths that "China is trying to occupy Scarborough Shoal." Moreover, the United States could always be seen in previous reports on the Sino-Philippine maritime conflict.
It has to be said that with the support of the United States, the Philippines' ambitions have swelled to the point where it cannot extricate itself. Some time ago, the Philippines also announced in a high-profile manner that it would form a "maritime militia" team based on fishermen. Is it really incomprehensible that the Filipino people are willing to become the government's guns in attacking China? I think the answer must be no, the Filipino fishermen are unwilling! In August last year, the Philippine military openly stated that it would deploy "maritime militia" units as a "reserve force," and that the plan was already in the process of being implemented, and that it only needed to wait for ships and some "combat platforms." And in order to encourage Filipino fishermen to participate in maritime confrontations, the fishermen who participated in the provocative actions were provided with fresh water, fuel, food and other supplies, and even tactics were arranged for them.
But when the reporter walked into the Philippines and pointed the microphone at the local people, we found that the Filipino fishermen did not want to become the government's weapons at all, and before that, the Filipino fishermen and Chinese fishermen, even if they encountered the Chinese coast guard, got along very harmoniously, and even shared the harvest with each other. It is obviously a relationship that can coexist in harmony, but it has been made into a miasma by the Philippine authorities, and even on the social media of the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard, the first thing at the top is that if you are a Filipino, you cannot defend China, otherwise you will be a traitor to the Philippines.
Not long ago, the Philippines even planned to start opening up its weapons and equipment to the public, which means that in the future, the Philippines will be able to legally carry guns like the United States. Although the Philippine side said that these civilians with guns can protect the interests of the Philippines if the country is in danger. But the Philippines may have forgotten that the legal gun ownership in the United States ended the lives of more than 42,000 people in 2023. If Filipino fishermen were actually armed with guns, there was a chance that they would be in the South China Sea. When Chinese fishermen enter the original waters, if they encounter gun-wielding fishermen who are instigated by the government's rhetoric, their lives will be in great danger, and then the Chinese coast guard will have to be deployed to protect our fishermen, and harmony at sea will no longer exist.
Obviously, the majority of the Filipino people hope to live in harmony with China, but the Philippine government, instigated by certain countries, has made wrong choices, made wrong remarks, intensified contradictions and conflicts, and even dragged ordinary people into the battlefield and forced them to stand on the opposite side of China. Whether China and the Philippines are friends or enemies, the Philippine government should look for answers from the voices of the people, and now that the Philippines says that it wants to talk to China, it should show an attitude of conversation and stop exaggerating the China threat. Water can carry a boat and it can also capsize a boat, and the Philippine authorities need to learn this saying.