The Philippines has repeatedly provoked China over the South China Sea issue, and even dragged the United States into firing at China's doorstep. At a critical moment, another high-level ASEAN visit to China supported China with actions, which undoubtedly attracted the attention of the United States and the Philippines.
1. Malaysia's foreign minister preempted Blinken's visit to China
Following the return of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, there was news of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China.
At the same time, the United States has once again set off a wave of smears against "China's aid to Russia" and maliciously distorted Sino-Russian relations.
He even said that China has been exporting dual-use goods to Russia, and accused China of secretly working in the Ukraine crisis.
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Blinken began a three-day visit to China on April 24 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
(U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits China from April 24 to 26)
From the information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we can see that the itinerary of this visit to China is no longer "agreed upon by China and the United States."
Obviously, in the face of Blinken's poor arrivals to China, the Chinese side has also taken the lead in making sufficient preparations and just waiting for him to attend the banquet.
According to some sources, Blinken's visit to China will not only conduct in-depth discussions on a number of urgent issues in the current situation, but will even "rejuvenate the teacher" and "ask the guilt" of China-Russia relations.
And this meeting is obviously a new round of confrontation between China and the United States on the South China Sea issue, the Taiwan Strait issue, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In particular, on the South China Sea issue and the Taiwan Strait issue, the United States has not only wantonly hollowed out the "one-China principle" to find an excuse for its interference in China's internal affairs, but has also joined forces with the Philippines to provoke China.
At this critical juncture, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohammed, at the invitation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, began a three-day visit to China on April 23.
Judging from the current development situation between China and Malaysia, Malaysia's move is to seek economic cooperation with China and further deepen the interests of the two countries.
This is undoubtedly a reassuring pill for the Chinese side.
(Malaysia has always had close ties with China)
Now, Mohammed preemptively visited China with Blinken, not only as a blow to the United States, but also as a warning to the Philippines.
Second, ASEAN high-level support for China
In April, Southeast Asian countries set off a "wave of visits to China", and many high-level ASEAN leaders visited China one after another to seek cooperation with China in various aspects.
In early April, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Laos Salunxay, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, and Foreign Minister of Timor-Leste Bendito arrived in Beijing for visits at the invitation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
This meeting has undoubtedly further deepened China's relations with Laos, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste.
After being sanctioned by the United States, Prabowo, who successfully won the Indonesian presidential election, was also invited to visit China for the first time.
As the leader of ASEAN, Indonesia's move undoubtedly demonstrates the close relationship between China and ASEAN.
(Prabowo's visit to China after his election victory highlights the friendship between the two countries)
The Chinese side and Thailand had a two-way meeting.
Thai Defense Minister Sutin led a delegation to visit China and held consultations with the Chinese side on the exchange of submarines for frigates.
Since then, the Chinese side has also sent people to Thailand to reach a further cooperation agreement with it.
In addition, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Army and Commander of the Army, Mao Sophan also started his visit to China and met with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun.
During the meeting, Mau Sopan not only expressed his gratitude to China, but also directly stated his position, stressing that Cambodia supports the "one-China" principle.
ASEAN and China have always had long-standing trade ties, and now the successive visits of the six ASEAN countries to China have undoubtedly further deepened their cooperation.
ASEAN countries have shown their support for China with their actions, but only the Philippines is singing the opposite, relying on the "support" of the United States to carry out malicious provocations against China on the South China Sea issue many times.
Now, the Philippines is directly absent from the Western Pacific Naval Forum for no reason, trying to make a big fuss about it and attract the attention of the international community.
3. The United States and the Philippines have joined hands to ignite a fire at China's doorstep
In order to find an opportunity to provoke China, the Philippines also cooperated with the United States, Australia, and France to carry out a "shoulder to shoulder" joint military exercise.
The Philippine side even made an elaborate design for this military exercise.
Not only did the number of soldiers participating in the exercise reach an unprecedented 16,000.
Among them were 11,000 American soldiers, 5,000 Filipino soldiers, and the rest were troops from France and Australia.
In the selection of locations, targets, and exercise items, there is also a sense of targeting China.
The exercise was held in waters close to Taiwan and the South China Sea.
The target was a Chinese-built Philippine decommissioned supply ship.
In addition, the joint exercise also included a simulated "island seizure" project.
(The U.S.-Philippines joint exercise project has added a simulated "island seizure")
Although the Philippines said that the exercise was not aimed at any country, it is clear that there are some places where there is no silver 300 taels.
Obviously, the purpose of this US-Philippine joint exercise is to unite its allies and militarily coerce China over the South China Sea issue.
China's position on the South China Sea has always been firm, and it has repeatedly stressed that many islands in the South China Sea are China's territory, and there are no territorial disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Obviously, the Philippines has used "territorial disputes" as an excuse to repeatedly attack the South China Sea region, which is undoubtedly a malicious intention to invade and occupy China's territory.
After learning of his crossing, the Chinese side also expelled him in accordance with the law as soon as it learned of his behavior and issued warnings to him on several occasions.
However, the Philippines still harbors a fluke mentality, hugging the "thigh" of the United States, and betting that China will not dare to retaliate and continue to carry out military operations in the South China Sea.
After experiencing many "sprinkling" by the Philippines, the Chinese side has also exhausted its patience and directly issued an ultimatum to the Philippines.
Not only did it demand that the Philippine side immediately stop its provocative acts, but also tow away its stall ship under the surveillance of the Chinese side.
But what the Chinese side got was that the Philippine side "can't read it back".
Marcos Jr. apparently did not recognize the current situation and overestimated his military capabilities.
He undoubtedly needs to think about what choice he will make if the situation in the South China Sea gets out of control and the US ignores his pleas for help, and faces China's countermeasures and pressure from other ASEAN countries alone.