Preface
The Philippines now really intends to go to the dark in provoking China, according to the global network, the United States and the Philippines will hold joint military exercises in the South China Sea from April 22 to May 8.
What is even more excessive is that the United States and the Philippines jointly announced that the goal of this military exercise is to sink Chinese-made warships, what agreement has the United States and the Philippines reached? What countermeasures will China take in the face of such provocations?
The Philippines has been very active in the international arena this year, and Marcos has turned friction in the South China Sea into an international issue, and now he has drawn the United States into a situation where he has to be tough with China, and he is unable to confront China without regard for his own military strength.
Now Marcos has become more resolute in his attitude towards the South China Sea issue, claiming that he will never follow China's instructions and tow away the beached warship on Ren'ai Jiao, and even wants to intervene in the Taiwan Strait issue.
Marcos vowed not to use the Philippines to attack other countries when the Philippines opened five military bases to the U.S. military in May last year, but his pledge is different from that of the current situation, and now he has begun to trumpet that he will use it against China.
At the end of March this year, a senior official of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command threw out a bombshell remark that once Philippine soldiers suffered misfortune in the South China Sea, the "U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty" would be triggered, and the U.S. side would send troops to support the Philippines.
The United States and the Philippines preview joint military exercises
The upcoming "Shoulder to Shoulder" joint military exercise, an annual U.S.-Philippine military event, is not only another test of China's bottom line in the South China Sea, but also the most extensive and influential exercise in 40 years.
At least 11,000 U.S. soldiers and 5,000 AFP soldiers participated in the exercise, including members of the French Navy and the Australian Defence Force.
Different from the layout of previous years, the Philippine government has set up the venue for this exercise for the first time in the 12-nautical-mile territorial area of the Philippines, and it is remarkable that in addition to the United States and the Philippines, representatives from 14 countries around the world participated as observers, indicating that the goal of multilateral cooperation and encirclement strategy against China is gradually being achieved.
And the Chinese warship targeted this time is actually the only Chinese asset of the Philippine Navy, this ship is a supply ship built by China, which once belonged to a private oil transportation company in the Philippines, and then the company gave it to the Philippine Navy and became the only supply ship in the Philippines, and finally because the Philippine Navy cannot afford to pay for maintenance, the ship has been decommissioned in 2020.
Marcos suddenly remembered the ship in July last year, so he repeatedly pulled out the decommissioned Chinese-made supply ship and whipped the corpse.
The Philippines, which had been planning to sink it in a joint military exercise with the United States since last July, ran aground while towing it to Subic Bay.
After three months of efforts by the Philippines, the ship finally returned to the sea, and another month later, the Philippines and the United States again planned to make it the target of the exercise, but they still did not achieve the goal of sinking it, and it is not known whether they can successfully sink the ship to the bottom of the sea during this exercise.
Marcos was proud of this old and was afraid that China would take a real step, so he turned around and began to quibble, saying that sinking the Chinese-made warship was not deliberately aimed at China.
On April 18, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the exercise was to strengthen cooperation with the United States and Japan, strengthen the Philippines' choice of maritime sovereignty, especially in the South China Sea, and hoped that China would reflect on its own behavior.
The Philippines does not realize that it has been put on the chessboard of the great power game, and every small wrong step may lead to unpredictable consequences, and in the face of the ill intentions of the United States and the Philippines, China immediately took countermeasures.
China has taken countermeasures
Since April 17, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned the Philippines not to co-opt other countries into a show of force in the South China Sea that could escalate tensions, destabilize the region, or even make itself a pawn of external powers.
Since the 18th, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has launched a new round of diplomatic offensive, aiming to strengthen cooperation and communication with Southeast Asian countries and build a stable peace framework on the South China Sea issue.
The foreign minister's itinerary includes visits to Indonesia, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea, with the aim of further solidifying the peaceful united front in the South China Sea.
As the United States and the Philippines are about to hold joint military exercises, the Philippines is highly concerned about China's dynamics, and when Wang Yi arrived in Indonesia, the Philippines shouted to Russia in the hope of deepening economic ties between the two sides and called on Russia to increase investment in the Philippines, a move that the Philippines is clearly trying to sow discord between China and Russia.
In recent days, the Philippines has been paying more attention to Chinese students, and it is reported that the Philippine government has begun to conduct security reviews of Chinese students gathered in the northern province of Cagayan, fearing that this will pose a potential threat to national security.
The Philippine government has always portrayed itself as a victim on the international stage, and since it wants to get a hammer, China will directly expose its true colors, so that the world can understand which side is the perpetrator and which side is the victim, so that the false statements of the United States and the West attacking China will be self-defeating.
At a time when China is worried about the safety of international students, China's statement directly shreds Marcos's hypocrisy and shows that there was a "gentlemen's agreement" between the two countries before.
The Chinese side publicly displayed the details of the agreement, drawing public attention to the source of tensions in the waters near Reed Bank, a disputed area in the South China Sea, and publicly exposing the root causes of the Marcos administration's contradictions in the South China Sea.
Marcos recognized that China's patience was rapidly eroding, and that China had demonstrated a firm belief and determination to break any attempts by the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea or even in the Taiwan Strait.
I hope the Philippines will understand that the key to resolving the South China Sea issue is to quickly tow away the wrecked ship on Second Thomas Shoal and show a friendly and sincere attitude to China and regional countries.
Main sources: 1. The original article was published on Huanqiu.com on April 19, 2024 Regarding the report that "the U.S.-Philippine military exercise will sink a 'Chinese-made' warship, the Philippine military claims that it is "not intentional"".
2. The original article was published in Hot News on April 19, 2024 on the report that "the US-Philippine military exercise is very close to Taiwan, China, and will sink" Chinese-made "warships".
3. The original article was published in the Global Times on May 5, 2023 on "Philippine President: Military bases open to the United States will not be used to attack any country".
4. The original article was published on China.com on April 18, 2024 on "China: Urge the Philippines to stop provocations at sea".
5. The original article was published in Reference News on April 18, 2024 on "Media Attention: Wang Yi's Visit to Three Asia-Pacific Countries, China's High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation".