After a lapse of 10 years, China is hosting the Western Pacific Forum again. A few days ago, the 19th Western Pacific Forum kicked off in Qingdao, with representatives from 29 countries participating. One of the episodes of the forum was that the Philippines was not represented as a member state.
In this regard, people familiar with the matter said that China, as the host country, has extended invitations to all member and observer countries of the forum, and it is not clear why the Philippines did not participate in the meeting. However, this does not affect the enthusiasm of countries to participate in this annual meeting.
In fact, both the United States and Russia attach great importance to this forum. As soon as Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Moiseyev arrived in China, he finalized a cooperation agreement with the Chinese side, and China and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation on maritime search and rescue. Not only that, the Russian side also plans to use the opportunity of this forum to carry out military diplomacy and hold meetings with representatives of the participating countries, and this visit to China will be spent one more day after the forum.
In addition, the new commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Steve Koehler, also led a delegation to attend the meeting, expressed his gratitude to the Chinese side for its thoughtful arrangements, and bluntly said that the Western Pacific Forum provides an opportunity for communication between naval commanders of various countries. Just before the visit of senior US military officials to China, the Chinese and US defense ministers held a video call. The outside world has generally paid attention to the interaction between the Chinese and US militaries at the forum.
And this time the Philippines has defaulted on the contract, which corresponds to the fact that the United States and the Philippines are muddying the waters in the South China Sea. On the 22nd, the US-Philippines "shoulder to shoulder" joint military exercise officially kicked off in Manila. The scale of this military exercise is larger than that of previous periods, with a total of 16 countries participating, and will last for more than half a month, with obvious implications for China, such as the sinking of a "Chinese-made" warship and the simulated seizure of "occupied islands".
On the same day, the United States and Sri Lanka held a four-day joint exercise "CARAT Sri Lanka-2024" at the Trincomalee military base. The U.S. Embassy said the bilateral military exercise was designed to underscore the strong relationship between the United States and Sri Lanka and its commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.
At this point, the calculation of the United States and the Philippines is already obvious. In the Philippines' view, the absence of China's meetings will help the international community to further consolidate its so-called "victim" role and win sympathy from other countries. In addition, the absence of the Philippines from the Western Pacific Forum can also be used to further create topics and undermine China's international image.
As for the United States, it is nothing more than provoking China on one side and communicating with the Chinese military on the other to set up guardrails for its behavior, so as to avoid being dragged into the water by the Philippines.
However, the calculations of the United States and the Philippines have failed. First of all, all the invited countries except the Philippines actively attended the forum, which made the Philippines an "outsider".
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From sending staff to the working group meeting in mid-January to absenteeism from the annual meeting in mid-April, the Philippines' inconsistent behavior has only made countries more aware of its inward nature, and that the Philippines is the disruptor of the forum and the destroyer of regional peace.
Secondly, the annual meeting of the Western Pacific Forum will discuss and vote on important topics such as the Forum's Charter, the Rules for Unexpected Encounters at Sea, the Guidelines for Disaster Response, and "Unmanned Systems". In its unexcused absence, the Philippines voluntarily gave up its right to speak and vote, and lost the opportunity to communicate with other countries.
Since the Philippines is cooperating with the United States and the West in pouring dirty water on China, China can take advantage of this opportunity to get to the root of the problem and reveal the ins and outs of friction in the South China Sea.
Finally, the United States and the Philippines have taken the lead in unreasonable provocations, and China will not let them go.
At the opening ceremony of the Western Pacific Forum, China issued a strong message: there is no way out of division and confrontation, and the new Cold War is doomed to failure. Encirclement and containment at sea will only plunge the world into a whirlpool of tearing apart and turbulence.
China has no intention of fighting a cold war or a hot war with any country, but its territorial sovereignty and core interests cannot be challenged. We will not cause trouble, and we will never be afraid of it! The Chinese armed forces will resolutely defend the motherland's reunification and national interests.
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