At the last moment when the US-Philippines joint military exercise was about to begin, Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave the truth, so what did Wang Yi say? China has also ushered in helpers in the South China Sea.
This year's U.S.-Philippine "Shoulder to Shoulder" exercise will be held from April 22 to May 10, and according to the United States and the Philippines, 16,700 troops will participate, and unlike previous years, this year's exercise will be held outside the Philippines' 12-nautical-mile territorial waters for the first time, with a total of 16 countries, including the United States and the Philippines, participating. Against the special background of the Marcos administration's continuous efforts to attract external forces to intervene in the South China Sea affairs, the outside world cannot but suspect that this move by the United States and the Philippines is intended to send a deterrent warning signal to the mainland. You must know that the US-Philippine military exercise will also simulate scenarios such as "retaking islands occupied by hostile forces". And the United States and the Philippines have locked on the sinking target in this military exercise. It is reported that the target selected by the United States and the Philippines to sink is the decommissioned Philippine Navy supply ship "Lake Carilaya," which was originally a civilian oil tanker made in China and used by Philippine enterprises. It is not difficult to see that the significance of the US-Philippine military exercises aimed at the mainland is not inconspicuous.
Of course, this is just one of the recent moves by the United States and the Philippines to wantonly provoke the mainland on the South China Sea issue. A few days ago, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos himself admitted that the Philippines had wooed the United States and stationed US troops in the Philippines in order to deal with China. His exact words were that the Philippine government allowed the US military to build four new military bases in the Philippines, and the purpose of allowing the US military to enter the Philippines was to deal with China's activities in the South China Sea. Not only that, Marcos also cooperated with the United States in hyping up the "US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty" in order to issue a naked "war threat" to the mainland, clamoring that if any Filipino soldiers were killed in an "attack by foreign forces," that would be when the "US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty" would be invoked. Coincidentally, just as Marcos was clamoring to deal with China, the U.S. military had deployed an "intermediate-range strike capability" missile system in northern Luzon in the Philippines, which also extended the strike range of the U.S. military stationed in the Philippines to China's coastal areas and the South China Sea.
It is undeniable that the US-Philippine coalition forces entering the South China Sea and conducting exercises to sink "Chinese-made warships" and the above-mentioned provocative actions will inevitably lead to the escalation of the situation in the South China Sea. During his recent visit to Indonesia, Foreign Minister Wang Yi specifically mentioned that it is necessary to be highly vigilant against cobbling together various "small circles" in the region, oppose any attempt to create bloc confrontation and bloc confrontation, and cherish and maintain the hard-won peace and stability in the region. He also stressed that China is willing to continue to work with other ASEAN countries to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, accelerate consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and build the South China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.
As the largest country in ASEAN, Indonesia and China still play a constructive role in the South China Sea issue on the whole, although there are some differences on maritime demarcation with China, but on the whole, foreign minister Wang Yi emphasized the above position and views, obviously hoping that Indonesia can play more of its role as a constructive intermediary between ASEAN major countries, and better promote ASEAN countries and China to reach an agreement on a code of conduct in the South China Sea at an early date, after all, peace and stability in the South China Sea is not only beneficial to ASEAN itself, but also to all countries in the region. In fact, ASEAN's attitude on the South China Sea issue has always been very clear, that is, it must not undermine regional security and strategic stability. However, as a member of ASEAN, the Philippines continues to collude with external forces to stir up stability in the South China Sea, which will only put the Philippines in an extremely embarrassing situation within ASEAN.
As far as the mainland is concerned, on the South China Sea issue, the United States and the Philippines have long ceased to fight more than one, because the mainland also has helpers, in addition to other ASEAN member states, Thailand is also one of them, and previously, Thai Defense Minister Su Ting led a team to visit China to discuss with China on the issue of "submarines for frigates." With the progress of this military-trade cooperation, Thailand will also become another helper that the PLA will find in Southeast Asia to solve the South China Sea issue after Cambodia.