On April 21, the Chinese Navy held the biennial Western Pacific Naval Forum Annual Meeting in Qingdao, which is a worldwide international naval event, with delegations from 28 countries invited to China, plus China, a total of 29 countries delegations to participate in the event.
Many people should have noticed that this annual meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Forum, whether it is the United States or Russia, has given China quite face. The United States sent Admiral Stephen Keller, commander of the Pacific Fleet, to attend the annual meeting, and Russia sent Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, commander-in-chief of the Navy, to attend the annual meeting, and 18 other countries were also led by key leaders of their respective naval departments to show their support for China's hosting of the annual meeting of the forum.
But let's not forget that the Western Pacific Forum mechanism has 23 member countries and 7 observer countries, which means that under normal circumstances, delegations from 30 countries should participate in the meeting, such as the Western Pacific Naval Forum Working Group held in Nanjing in January before, there were 70 representatives from 30 countries attending the meeting.
Unsurprisingly, it's the Philippines.
Is it because of the contradictions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, didn't we invite the Philippines?
Wrong, according to Senior Colonel Liang Wei of the Chinese Naval Research Institute, China, as the host country of this annual meeting, has sent invitation letters to all forum member countries and observer countries, but the Philippines has neither come nor explained why it did not come, and directly coldly treated China's invitation.
29 countries, why is the Philippines the only one who does not give face?
Three possibilities.
The first possibility is that the Philippines has a ghost in its heart and is afraid to face China at such an international conference.
Recently, the Philippines has done a lot of bad things, from the deployment of US medium-range missiles to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos's categorical denial of the "gentlemen's agreement" reached between the previous administration and China, and the branding of Duterte as a "traitor to the Philippines" who "colludes with China and betrays the country." Under his manipulation, China-Philippines relations have basically torn their faces. On the issue of the South China Sea, does the Philippines have any justification? In fact, it is very easy to distinguish between this matter, and if Marcos had no idea of the "gentlemen's agreement," then why did he honestly inform us of the previous shipment of supplies to Ren'ai Jiao and accept the inspection of our coast guard? Therefore, the Philippines knows how lame the excuse it is making, and if it comes to Qingdao to attend the meeting, China itself will be the host, and the Philippines itself is weak-minded, so I am afraid that it will show its feet when the time comes, so it is better not to come.
The second possibility is that the Philippines wants to continue to use this to create a topic and make the outside world think that China deliberately did not invite it, so as to shape its image as a "victim", attract the attention of the international community, and disrupt the forum.
The third possibility is that the United States asked the Philippines not to come, because Blinken is about to start his visit to China, and on the issues of Europe and the Middle East, he has asked China for help.
Of course, from our point of view, whatever the reasons for which the Philippines is absent from this forum, it is certain that it will not succeed in its purpose. The Western Pacific Forum is an important platform for the navies of various countries to strengthen exchanges, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation, and even the United States does not dare to take it lightly, and the direct absence of the Philippines not only shows that the Marcos administration is indifferent to international rules and maritime order, but also puts itself in a situation of isolation.