After seeking no response from China's continued investment, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos officially had a showdown with China, and the United States and the Philippines reached a consensus on the conditions for "sending troops" to the South China Sea.
After the United States walked around, Philippine President Marcos was obviously a little carried away, having just obtained defense commitments from the United States and Japan, Marcos shamelessly asked China to continue to invest in the Philippines, and after China did not respond, Marcos completely showdown with China.
On the 15th local time, the Philippines held a forum for foreign journalists, and Marcos reversed the commitments he made to China last year on the spot, and publicly admitted for the first time that the four new military bases opened by the Philippines to the US military last year were to deal with China's actions in the South China Sea.
In February last year, U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Aquilino visited the Philippines, and the Philippines agreed to further expand the number of Philippine military bases available to the U.S. military, from the original four to nine. Because relations with the United States are still secretly deepening, the Philippines still does not dare to provoke China openly, and Marcos also specifically promised the Chinese side that "no one will be allowed to use military bases to launch any offensive operations."
A year has passed, and the United States and the Philippines have colluded with each other, and Marcos has not only reversed this promise, but also tore up the "gentlemen's agreement" reached between China and the Philippines during the Duterte administration. Before the meeting with the leaders of the United States and Japan, the Philippine side had already said that it would "never compromise" on the Ren'ai Jiao issue, would never accept China's position on the Ren'ai Jiao issue, and said that it would formulate a package of countermeasures.
After connecting with the United States and Japan, Marcos became even more bold and even reached an agreement with the US military on sending troops to the South China Sea. At the end of March, U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Aquilino publicly accused China of "becoming more aggressive and bold" in the South China Sea, and also proposed to the U.S. Congress the conditions for sending troops to the South China Sea, saying that the Philippines could invoke the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty if a Philippine sailor or soldier died. At the event on the 15th, Marcos agreed with this statement, which is equivalent to the Philippines drawing a red line for China at Ren'ai Jiao, and it also means that the United States and the Philippines have plans to send troops.
With such a lack of knowledge, China can no longer afford to let it go. Before the US-Japan-Philippines summit, China had already had intensive interaction with neighboring countries in the South China Sea, and Indonesian President-elect Prabowo visited China before he officially took office and expressed his willingness to negotiate a settlement of disputes in the South China Sea.
The greeting of China and its neighboring countries means that it has made all preparations to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and integrity, including taking action. On the evening of the 16th, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called, and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun drew a red line on the South China Sea issue, saying that "regional countries have the will, wisdom and ability to solve problems", and asked the United States to recognize China's position and respect China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. The implication is to warn the United States to step aside.
Shortly after the end of this phone call, the United States and the Philippines made a choice, and a Reuters reporter reported that the United States and the Philippines will conduct joint military exercises next week, first drawing a red line and then provoking China, and the intention of the United States and the Philippines to force China to take action is already obvious. Let the wind and waves rise, sit firmly on the fishing boat. Recently, the Philippine Coast Guard has often taken Western journalists to forcibly enter Ren'ai Jiao, and afterwards pretended to be "victims" to frame China for "unsafe interceptions", in order to fabricate an excuse for the United States to intervene in the South China Sea issue.
As long as China continues to exercise control in accordance with the law, does not fall into the trap of the United States and the Philippines, and does not give the United States and Japan a chance to take advantage of it, it will firmly grasp the initiative, and even if the United States and the Philippines make a mistake, the PLA will have absolute strength to safeguard territorial sovereignty integrity and peace and stability in the South China Sea