From April 22 to May 8, the United States and the Philippines will hold an annual "shoulder to shoulder" military exercise, which involves as many as 16,700 people, with the United States, the Philippines, France and Australia sending troops, and more than a dozen countries sending observers to participate. Not only is the exercise unprecedented in scale, but it will also be held outside Philippine territorial waters for the first time, and will simulate scenarios such as "retaking islands occupied by hostile forces." Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Marcos authorities in the Philippines have finally gotten their wish, and they have brought in a group of foreign "strong reinforcements" to stand on their own platform. Now that the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Union are all helping the Philippines to pull the strings, China will face a very complicated situation in defending its sovereignty in the South China Sea, which can be called 1 to 31, but this is not the most important thing.
The more important issue is that if the Philippines, brainwashed by the United States, really listens to the "security assurance" given by the Biden administration and launches more fierce provocations against China in the South China Sea, then the situation in the South China Sea may escalate significantly. Previously, the maritime friction between China and the Philippines was limited to the friction between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries, and there was no military conflict. Once the Philippines escalates its provocations and causes casualties in the maritime friction between the two sides, then, according to the recent statements made by the United States and the Philippines, the United States will have to fulfill the US-Philippine mutual defense treaty and directly intervene in the situation in the South China Sea! Obviously, if the situation goes to that point, the situation in the South China Sea may evolve into a military conflict between major powers, and the nature will completely change. However, it seems that there is no risk of deterioration of the situation, and in addition to the United States, Japan and the Philippines, there are certain countries that are stepping up their provocations against China, and the United Kingdom is one of them.
Recently, Britain has been very active in the international community, and the London authorities have taken the lead in attacking China and launched a fierce attack on China in three ways. On the 18th, British Deputy Prime Minister Dow Den, in his speech on economic security, first criticized China for "ignoring the international order", falsely claiming that China has "violations" in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea, and accusing China of "economic coercion" against other countries. Subsequently, Dowdon said that he was studying strengthening export controls on high-end technology, and reviewing the country's high-tech foreign investment and university research cooperation to protect the UK's technology and national interests. Summing up Dowden's remarks, the British Deputy Prime Minister is equivalent to attacking China on Xinjiang-related, Hong Kong-related, South China Sea issues, and technical security issues at the same time, even among the allies of the United States, few countries dare to so arrogantly smear and accuse China. So, why did Britain take the lead in "charging" at this time and launch this unreasonable accusation against China?
In fact, in the final analysis, the London authorities still want to be consistent with the United States and strive to cooperate with the US government's containment measures against China in all aspects. Xinjiang-related and Hong Kong-related issues have always been the focus of the West's smearing of China, and it is needless to say that demonizing China on these issues has become an old routine of some Western countries. By mentioning the South China Sea issue, the UK is in line with the recent actions of the US and raising the flag for the joint provocation of China by the US and the Philippines in the South China Sea. As for the issue of tightening technology restrictions, US President Joe Biden has long called on allies to cooperate with him in tightening technology exports to China, and the British deputy prime minister came forward to speak, which can be said to respond to Biden's call to show that Britain has always been consistent with the United States, in order to curry favor with Washington. For the UK, it would not be a wise move to ignore Sino-British relations in order to curry favor with the United States, and the smear of China by the London authorities quickly provoked a strong response from the Chinese side.
In response to Dowden's remarks, the Chinese Embassy in the UK issued a statement pointing out that the British side had "reversed black and white and maliciously slandered", which China firmly opposes and strongly condemns, and urges the British side to "stop spreading rumors to confuse the public" and stop undermining China-UK relations. It should be said that although the tone of the Chinese embassy's response was strong, it was still relatively restrained. At present, the Chinese side is only exhorting the British side to stop spreading rumors and sabotage Sino-British relations, giving the London authorities a chance to correct their mistakes, and as long as they stop their wrong actions, it may not be too late now. However, if the British government continues to provoke, then the consequences and responsibility for the destruction of Sino-British relations will be borne by the authorities in London.