On April 22, the United States and the Philippines launched Shoulder to Shoulder 24, with a total of 17,000 troops from both sides, and 14 Asian and European countries intervened as observers. Judging from the recent appearance of "Roosevelt" in the South China Sea, the deployment of the "Typhon" intermediate-range missile system on the northern islands of the Philippines, and the illegal operation of the hydrographic survey ship "Ventura" in the South China Sea, Marcos Jr. is planning to go dark on this road against China.
In the face of Marcos Jr.'s arrogance and provocation, the Chinese side was silent. Since the start of the US-Philippine exercise, everyone has waited to see China's statement, but they did not expect that China has been quiet. However, this was only a brief lull before the storm.
On April 25, three days after the start of the US-Philippine exercise, Wu Qian, spokesman for the mainland's Ministry of National Defense, finally made a statement on the "Shoulder to Shoulder 24" exercise at a press conference. At the same time, our People's Liberation Army also began to operate. With a two-pronged approach, Marcos Jr. panicked.
The Ministry of National Defense and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have taken a two-pronged stance against the Philippines
Senior Colonel Wu Qian said that if we want to resolve the South China Sea dispute, we need to adopt the right ways and means, and the Philippines' blind guidance of foreign forces to intervene in the South China Sea will only lead to escalation, make the problem more difficult to control, intensify the contradictions, and make the problem more difficult to solve. Otherwise, it will not have any positive impact on the South China Sea disputes.
On the South China Sea issue, China has always adhered to the principles of win-win cooperation and mutual respect, and hopes to have effective communication with disputed countries. In the face of disputes in the South China Sea, China has always hoped that these issues can be resolved through consultation, rather than allowing the contradictions to escalate gradually, and finally get out of control and can only be resolved by using force and causing casualties, which is not what China wants to see.
China has always opposed the interference of foreign forces in the South China Sea, which will only have the opposite effect. In addition, China firmly opposes the so-called "muscles" of relevant countries in the South China Sea through the display of force and frequent provocations.
Finally, Senior Colonel Wu Qian sternly warned that our military has always been closely monitoring every move in the South China Sea, and the PLA will take stern and swift measures to resolve any action that attempts to disrupt the South China Sea.
According to an announcement issued by the China Maritime Safety Administration on April 23, from 08:00 to 18:00 every day from April 25 to 26, live-fire training will be conducted in some waters of the Beibu Gulf.
The answer to who our army wants to deter in this live-fire training is obvious. Since the Philippines can "flex its muscles" in the South China Sea, so can we. Moreover, according to the strength of the mainland, we don't need to pull other countries over to help at all. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) can deter the Philippines on its own.
Marcos urgently cooled down, and he knew very well that the United States would not sacrifice much
The two-pronged approach of the Ministry of Defense and the People's Liberation Army should not be too obvious. On the evening of the announcement issued by the MSA, the presidential communications office of the Marcos administration began to "refute the rumors", saying that the audio of "Philippine President Marcos is going to war against China" that had been widely circulated on the Internet was fake, and the Philippine president had not said such things, let alone thought of going to war with China, so I hope that everyone will not use false rumors, and I hope that China will not believe it and affect the relations between the two countries.
Of course, nine times out of ten, this recording is true. While it's not hard to forge a recording in today's high-tech era, Marcos' attitude before that suggests it's true. First of all, if it was fake, why didn't Marcos suppress it and let it ferment, but instead waited until China "flexed its muscles" before "refuting the rumors"? Second, who was idle and had nothing to do to create rumors about the president? Finally, judging by Marcos's recent actions against China, he really wanted to start a war against China, but he didn't have the ability to do so, so he made such a recording to deter China.
However, it is no longer very useful to delve into the authenticity of this recording, but what should be discussed at the moment is that Marcos suddenly stepped on the "emergency brake" and did not dare to continue to provoke China, which has a lot to do with the two-pronged approach of the PLA and the Ministry of National Defense. Marcos should have made an urgent statement after seeing China's attitude, so as to prevent China-Philippines relations from deteriorating to the point of no return.
In fact, Marcos also knows very well that although the United States is now supporting them, if it really comes to this step of the Sino-Philippine war, the US military will not come to their aid. This can be seen from Marcos's previous interviews, and he himself is aware of this.
At that time, the reporter asked Marcos whether the United States would go to war with China in order to help the Philippines fight for islands and reefs in the South China Sea...... This question...... Yes...... Well...... This", in the end, he really couldn't say anything, and chose to refuse to answer this question.
Judging from this, he also knows very well that the United States will not sacrifice too much for the Philippines, and the reason why Marcos is still willing to follow the United States is nothing more than to get some money from the United States. After all, the United States has agreed to provide $100 billion of investment to the Philippines together with Japan in the next 5-10 years.
In the future, Marcos is expected to stage a scenario in which he provokes China in the South China Sea and uses this as an excuse to ask for money from the United States, and on the other hand, he urgently cools down when China is about to get angry and avoids a real war.