When the troops of the United States, Japan, Australia, France and other countries were massing in the South China Sea, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) decisively set aside a no-sail zone and prepared to start a three-day military training. The intensity of China's military operations in the entire South China Sea is likely to intensify as the situation deteriorates.
According to the website of the China Maritime Safety Administration, from 6 p.m. on April 24 to 6 p.m. on April 27, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will conduct a military training in the South China Sea, during which navigation is prohibited in some areas and the location of the no-sail zone is given.
[From 6 p.m. on April 24 to 6 p.m. on the 27th, the PLA will conduct a military training in the South China Sea]
Although judging from the location of the no-navigation zone, the PLA conducted the training in the northern waters of the South China Sea near Hainan Island, and there was no clear specific training content. However, it cannot be ruled out that it will be targeted combat readiness training in response to the recent new changes in the overall situation in the South China Sea.
This round of escalation in the South China Sea began with the recent trilateral summit between the United States, Japan and the Philippines. During the summit, the three countries signed a series of agreements, the core of which is to jointly confront China in the South China Sea. The United States and the Philippines also confirmed that the condition for the United States to send troops to support the Philippines under the "US-Philippines Alliance Agreement" is that someone from the Philippines will be killed in a maritime dispute in the South China Sea.
After the summit, the United States and the Philippines and other countries have been taking risks in the diplomatic and military fields to test China's reaction.
[Since the end of the trilateral summit, the United States and the Philippines and other countries have been making continuous moves in the South China Sea]
The United States has drawn into the G7 group to speak out on the South China Sea issue, jointly exert diplomatic pressure on China, and support the Philippines.
The Philippine side focused on a "gentlemen's agreement" reached with China on the Ren'ai Jiao issue during the administration of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and a number of senior Philippine officials, including Marcos Jr., came forward to deny the existence of the agreement or explicitly refused to implement the agreement.
In order to show its hardline stance, the Philippine military also voluntarily absent itself from the Western Pacific Naval Forum being held in Qingdao, further closing the door to a peaceful settlement of the South China Sea issue.
The Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the opportunity of Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian to try to win over Singapore and win broad support within ASEAN on the South China Sea issue, but it failed to achieve results.
[Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian (left) visited the Philippines and met with Philippine Foreign Minister Manaro and others]
In addition to actions at the diplomatic level, the United States and the Philippines and other countries have also carried out many practical actions at sea. The US Navy's USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier battle group entered the South China Sea in mid-April, and after being tracked and monitored by the Chinese Navy's Type 054A frigate near Scarborough Shoal, the carrier battle group has entered the central waters of the South China Sea.
At the same time, a new "shoulder-to-shoulder" military exercise between the United States and the Philippines has also started in many places at the same time. Different from the previous "shoulder-to-shoulder" exercises, this year's exercise is no longer limited to the territorial waters of the Philippines, but has gone deeper into the South China Sea and other waters, and a drill area has been set up on the northern Philippine island, which is closest to the island of Taiwan.
The subjects of this military exercise are even more targeted, not only the training of seizing islands around islands and reefs in the South China Sea, but also the sea strike exercise. The Philippine military specially brought in a retired Chinese-made oil tanker as a target ship, which can be regarded as making it clear to the outside world that the exercise is aimed at China.
The Indian side also chose to officially deliver the BrahMos anti-ship missiles to the Philippine side that were supposed to be delivered last year before the start of the exercise.
[The Indian side delivered the "BrahMos" anti-ship missile to the Philippine army before the military exercise]
In addition to the US and Philippine militaries, which are the main forces, the Australian and French armies also sent some personnel to participate in the exercise, and more than 10 countries, including Japan, sent observers.
The Philippine Coast Guard, as a law enforcement force, also sent six main patrol vessels to participate in the exercise this time to enhance its ability to cooperate with US warships.
Other ships of the Philippine Coast Guard have taken on the "security mission" of the periphery, preventing any "unauthorized vessels" from approaching the location of the exercise, clearly fearing that the Chinese military and police departments will collect information about the US-Philippine military exercise and understand the ability of the two sides to cooperate and act through means such as reconnaissance in close proximity.
In addition, the Philippine Coast Guard recently dispatched a marine survey ship to carry out activities in Scarborough Shoal and other waters under the banner of scientific investigation, in an attempt to assert the so-called "sovereignty of the Philippines" and provoke new incidents.
[The Philippine Coast Guard recently sent a scientific research ship into the South China Sea under the cover of a patrol ship]
Therefore, although China, the United States and the Philippines have not engaged in a head-to-head confrontation in the South China Sea in the recent period as they did in March, the situation in the South China Sea has not shown any signs of easing, and has even warmed up further.
Under such circumstances, the PLA naturally needs to take action to respond to the changes in the situation. In addition to the upcoming military training, the PLA dispatched the Wuzhan-7 reconnaissance aircraft to patrol the waters off Luzon Island in the Philippines, and during the "Shoulder to Shoulder" military exercise, these high-altitude drones should continue to operate in the airspace of the South China Sea, cooperate with AWACS aircraft and maritime vessels, and monitor the movements of the US and Philippine forces.
The Chinese Navy's Type 055 destroyer Xianyang has just completed a long-distance combat readiness patrol and ocean-going training mission and returned to its home port in Hainan. Judging from the official circular's action route "through the South China Sea, the western Pacific Ocean, and the eastern Indian Ocean," the Xianyang ship should have moved south from the waters east of the Philippines to the waters near Indonesia, then turned to enter the Indian Ocean, and then went north through the waters west of the Philippines to return to China.
[The Chinese Navy's Xianyang ship formation went deep into the South China Sea and other waters to conduct an ocean-going training]
As the top PLA officials said at the Western Pacific Naval Forum, China hopes to prioritize diplomatic communication and properly handle maritime disputes with the Philippines and other countries, but China's lack of trouble now does not mean that China is afraid of trouble.
The constant provocations by the United States, the Philippines and other countries will only make China determined to use more assertive means in the South China Sea to control the trend of the situation in the South China Sea. The location of the no-navigation zone drawn by the PLA next time is probably not near Hainan Island, but in the Nansha Islands.