Why did there become more friction between China and the Philippines around Ren'ai Jiao after Marcos Jr. came to power? And during the Duterte period, there was almost no friction between Chinese and Philippine ships at Ren'ai Jiao? A very important point in this is that during the administration of the previous Philippine administration, China and the Philippines reached a "gentlemen's agreement" to jointly control the situation at Ren'ai Jiao.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos
However, after Marcos Jr. came to power, he broke this tacit understanding between China and the Philippines, and said that he "did not know", and said that this was a "secret agreement" reached between the previous Philippine government and China.
The specific content of the so-called "gentlemen's agreement" includes the Philippines' commitment not to continue to strengthen the beached ship, not to continue to send additional personnel, and to notify the Chinese side before transporting supplies, while the Chinese side temporarily allows the Philippines to deliver daily necessities to the people on the beached ship out of humanitarian standpoints.
Recently, however, the Philippines has repeatedly sent ships to transport illegal building materials to the warship Sierra Madre, which is illegally beached at Ren'ai Jiao, in an attempt to reinforce the beaching ship and then permanently occupy the mainland's islands and reefs.
The Philippines illegally beached a warship at Second Thomas Shoal
It can be said that China has exercised great restraint, while the Philippines has ignored China's goodwill and insisted on following the United States to disrupt peace and tranquility in the region. According to the global network on April 18, the United States and the Philippines will carry out a "shoulder to shoulder" joint military exercise next week, and the scale of this military exercise is far greater than in previous years.
It is understood that a total of 16,700 troops participated in this exercise, and this does not include the Philippine Coast Guard and other related personnel, if all are counted, this will be the largest joint military exercise in the history of the United States and the Philippines.
Moreover, the location of this military exercise has already exceeded the 12-nautical-mile territorial waters of the Philippines, and the first large-scale exercise outside the territorial waters can no longer be regarded as a "defensive" exercise. Philippine Army Colonel Michael Logico, who was in charge of the exercise, said bluntly that the US and Philippine militaries will simulate the recapture of islands occupied by "hostile forces" during the exercise.
U.S.-Philippines joint military exercises
In addition to the exercise of seizing the island, the United States and the Philippines will also carry out the training of "sinking exercise", and the selected simulated sinking object is also quite meaningful, it is a Philippine civilian oil tanker from China, which later became the Philippine Navy's supply ship "Lake Carilaya".
The prototype of the "Carilaya Lake" is actually an oil tanker with a load of nearly 5,000 tons built by China's Zhongxing Shipyard in the early years, which was purchased by the Philippine National Oil Corporation and donated to the Philippine Navy in 2014.
It wasn't until 2020 that the ship was officially decommissioned, and now the Philippines is using the ship as a simulated sinking object, which may have a deep meaning. The Philippine military also stressed in particular that the only "Chinese-made" ship of the Philippine Navy was "not intentionally sunk" for the exercise.
Philippine Navy supply ship USS Carilaya
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the Philippine military's explanation pales in the face of actual action, and just last week, the heads of state of the United States, Japan and the Philippines held a trilateral summit in Washington, D.C., in which the joint statement hyped up the South China Sea issue and pointed the finger at China.
Earlier, the United States and the Philippines conducted joint patrols in the South China Sea and said they would respond to China's "increasingly assertive actions" in the South China Sea, a series of actions that have heightened tensions and complications in the South China Sea, and also affected Sino-Philippine relations.
No matter how much the Philippines tries to reverse black and white, who is stirring up trouble in the South China Sea and who wants to undermine the overall situation of regional peace and stability? Countries in the South China Sea can see very clearly, and the fact that ASEAN countries have recently sent high-ranking officials to visit China intensively and expressed their willingness to work with China in the same direction on the situation in the South China Sea is enough to show that the US and the Philippines are unpopular in stirring up trouble in the South China Sea.
ASEAN countries
With regard to the US-Philippines joint military exercise, China has already stated that the military activities of relevant countries should not be aimed at any third party, let alone undermine regional peace and stability. As for the Philippines, it should be soberly aware that the United Nations with other countries in the South China Sea will only further aggravate tensions by flexing force and provoking confrontation, and China will take necessary measures to defend its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and maintain peace and tranquility in the South China Sea.