China issued an invitation, 29 countries gathered, and the US military general led a delegation to China. However, only the Philippines rejected China's invitation and sent thousands of troops into the South China Sea to talk about "countermeasures". Why did the Philippines refuse the invitation and what is the impact on the situation in the South China Sea?
From April 21 to 24, the Western Pacific Naval Forum was held in Qingdao, China, with naval delegations from the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia and other countries participating, according to a report by Huanqiu.com. The U.S. Navy sent Admiral Steve Koehler, commander of the Pacific Fleet, to lead a delegation to the forum. The commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Alexander Moiseev, took office less than a month ago and led a delegation to China. Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff (equivalent to the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy) Ryoshi Sakai had planned to attend the meeting in China, but he had to deal with the "Sea Hawk helicopter crash into the sea" and urgently canceled the trip. However, this time, China extended an invitation to members of the Western Pacific Naval Forum, and 29 countries were invited, and only the Philippines declined, without giving any reason.
Recently, the Philippines has been active in the South China Sea, not only invading China's islands and reefs many times, but also providing a number of military bases to the US military. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos openly admitted that the purpose of providing military bases to the US military was aimed at China after attending the summit between Japan and the Philippines. He also clamored that if any Philippine troops were killed in the South China Sea, he would immediately ask the US military to send troops to the South China Sea. Marcos was able to say this, which shows that he, as an "agent of the United States", actually wants to be a "chess player" himself.
However, in 2016, the United States did not have the situation in the Middle East and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, nor did it have huge U.S. debt and historical inflation, and China only had an aircraft carrier that did not form combat power, and there was no 055 drive. However, the U.S. military sent two aircraft carriers, but in the end it still did not make up its mind to intervene and withdrew from the South China Sea in embarrassment. Eight years later, if the United States encounters all kinds of problems, will it still be directly terminated because of the Philippines? As the leader of a country, it is impossible for Marcos not to see this situation clearly. Therefore, the Philippines has always wanted to exert pressure on China through international public opinion. By refusing to participate in the Western Pacific Forum this time, the Philippines is deliberately creating political hot topics to increase its own exposure, and then playing the role of "victim" again. Win the sympathy of the international community.
At the same time, the U.S.-Philippine "shoulder-to-shoulder" military exercise is being held, and thousands of Philippine troops have poured into the South China Sea. The content of this exercise was more "offensive," and a Chinese-made warship was deliberately selected as a target ship, making no secret of its intention to regard China as an "imaginary enemy." The Philippines still seems to feel that "the matter is not big enough", and its Ministry of National Defense issued a statement unilaterally tearing up the "gentlemen's agreement" reached with China on Ren'ai Jiao. Some analysts said that since the Philippines took the initiative to tear up the gentlemen's agreement, China is "famous" in the Ren'ai Jiao dispute. Previously, China had been allowing the supply of daily necessities for warships illegally "beached" at Ren'ai Jiao. Now, the Philippines is bent on provoking the incident, and China will naturally not be polite, and can completely let go of its hands and adopt more forceful measures, including cutting off all supplies for the broken ship at Ren'ai Jiao.
Finally, I would like to say that the so-called "US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty" reached between the Philippines and the United States is actually a similar agreement signed by the United States and all NATO countries. In addition, Israel, as the most important ally of the United States in the Middle East, has also received security commitments from the United States. However, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, several NATO countries are going all out to develop their military forces, for fear that they will become targets of Russia. Recently, Israel was attacked by Iranian missiles because of the bombing of the Iranian embassy, and the United States did not activate the so-called "security commitment" in response. From these circumstances, we can see the true color of the so-called "security commitment" of the United States. However, the Philippines actually believed in the promises of the United States and flaunted its claws against China. Marcos's fate may not be better than that of Aquino III, who created the so-called "South China Sea arbitration".