Who would have thought that the Philippines, which was holding a summit with the United States not long ago and launching joint military exercises, would do something to drive away the US military. As we all know, since Biden took office, the United States has been very active in supporting the Philippines on the South China Sea issue, even if it knows that it is wrong for Philippine ships to invade Ren'ai Jiao, the country still stands in line and hits the mainland backwards, with a posture of "China must apologize to the Philippines". But this is the case, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos began to deliberately distance himself from the United States. Marcos said the U.S. side will not be allowed to use more Philippine military bases. "The Philippines does not intend to open or establish more bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Last year, the Philippines announced that it would allow the U.S. military to use four additional military bases, including bases near the South China Sea and not far from Taiwan, in addition to the five military bases agreed upon under the U.S.-Philippine Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement signed in 2014.
There is no doubt that the hostility of the United States towards China is aimed at the mainland. Obviously, the Marcos government is well aware that after all, relying on the big mountain of the United States, it will have the confidence to make a noise on the South China Sea issue. Now, Marcos has said he will not let the U.S. military use more bases. Is it because Marcos has given up confronting the mainland on the South China Sea issue? Or is there another reason? It has been learned that after Marcos declared that the United States would not be allowed to enter and use more Philippine military bases, he finally admitted that the main reason why the US military added four new military bases last year was to deal with China's actions in the South China Sea.
If he gave up working against the mainland, at this time, Marcos would not have a showdown. What's more, Marcos is still clamoring that if any Filipino soldiers are killed in a "foreign attack," it will be when the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty is invoked. So, in my opinion, Marcos is not afraid of China. It is worth mentioning that in response to the joint military exercises of the United States, Australia, Japan and the Philippines, the PLA conducted joint naval and air combat patrols on the same day as a response to the military exercises of the United States and its allies.
As the situation in the South China Sea continues to escalate, more and more Filipino people are worried that the tension between the Philippines and China will lead China to reduce its economic ties with the Philippines. Filipinos once told the Global Times that for the Filipinos, the South China Sea issue is not important, and they are only worried about the Philippine economy. In the Philippines, the boundaries between modern and backward, rich and poor, elite and grassroots are clearly defined, forming a very unique "dualistic world".
Many poor Filipinos have been trapped in slums all their lives, worrying about food and food, and fighting for food and clothing. In this case, they only want to be well fed and warmly clothed. Therefore, the Marcos government stirred up trouble in the South China Sea, and many Filipino people did not pay for it at all. Because of this, support for Marcos fell from 68 percent in December to 55 percent in March. If approval continues to fall, Marcos will not be far from stepping down. At this point, it is not so much that I am afraid of China, but that I am afraid of the Filipino people.
It's just that the Filipino people still don't be fooled, because Marcos's latest statement is completely self-deceptive nonsense. Instead of opening more military bases under the framework of the "Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement" to the US military, the four new military bases opened last year are close to the South China Sea and Taiwan Island, and at the same time, this agreement also allows the US military to rotate military personnel in the Philippines at any time, and even store defense equipment and replenish at any time. Just by not opening more bases to the US military, will the Filipino people believe that the Marcos administration will not continue to collude with the United States and stir up trouble? In the final analysis, it is just to temporarily stabilize the Filipino people.