The U.S.-Philippine coalition forces are currently arraying in the South China Sea to conduct live-fire exercises to co-ordinate Blinken's unreasonable demands to China during his visit to China and engage in force and intimidation. However, foreign media reporters covering the exercise found that the PLA ships had been watching from two nautical miles away, and they had a full grasp of every move of the US-Philippine coalition forces.
When Blinken arrived in China for a visit, the United States and the Philippines began holding the "Shoulder to Shoulder 2024" joint military exercise in the South China Sea. Such a coincidence in time is obviously deliberately arranged by the US government in order to cooperate with Blinken's various demands on China to exert "maximum pressure". Judging from the recent statements made by the United States and the Philippines on the South China Sea issue, the US-Philippine exercise in the South China Sea is likely to be "not a good one."
(The U.S.-Philippines "Shoulder to Shoulder 2024" joint exercise has begun)
- According to US media reports, one of the demands that Blinken make to China during his visit to China is for China to recognize the Philippines' ownership of Ren'ai Jiao so that it "does not change the status quo in the South China Sea." Such a demand, of course, must be resolutely countered by China.
- Philippine officials have recently reneged on their promises twice. First, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in early April that he was "unaware of and 'shocked' by the 'gentlemen's agreement' between China and the Philippines over the Ren'ai Jiao issue." Of course, this is a lie. The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines previously said that the "gentlemen's agreement" reached between China and the previous Philippine government on the management of the situation at Ren'ai Jiao is not a secret, and the two sides have been communicating until early February 2023, that is, seven months after the current Philippine government took office, the relevant departments and agencies of the two sides have always complied with this agreement, and Sara Duterte, the daughter of the previous president, is the vice president of the current Philippine government. The second treachery came two days ago, when Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro once again denied that China and the Philippines had reached an agreement on the South China Sea dispute, declaring it a form of "propaganda."
(The PLA Navy's electronic reconnaissance ship arrives close to monitor the actions of the United States and the Philippines)
Obviously, the Philippines has completely torn up the "gentlemen's agreement" on Ren'ai Jiao, and coupled with Blinken's demands in Beijing, it is very likely that the United States and the Philippines will launch a provocative action against China's sovereignty in the waters of Ren'ai Jiao in this "shoulder-to-shoulder" joint military exercise. At the same time, the United States and the Philippines have made diplomatic and military moves against China in an attempt to deny China's sovereignty over Ren'ai Jiao and other islands and reefs, and to undermine China's strategic advantage in the South China Sea through land reclamation. China is fully prepared and reacted to this possibility.
(The Philippines claims that a large number of Chinese "maritime militia" ships have entered the relevant waters)
First of all, as soon as the US-Philippine "shoulder-to-shoulder" exercise began, a reporter on board the US-Philippine warship reported that the Chinese Navy's Type 815 Type 793 electronic reconnaissance ship has been keeping an eye on the US-Philippine exercise only 2 nautical miles from the Philippine-US "shoulder-to-shoulder" joint military exercise. Obviously, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is closely monitoring every move of the US and Philippine troops participating in the exercise, and will not give them a chance to fire the first shot.
Second, China has deployed a large number of ships in all sensitive waters of the South China Sea facing the United States and the Philippines, ready to launch a counter to provocative actions by the United States and the Philippines. According to data recently released by Philippine Navy Commodore Roy Trinidad, the average number of "maritime militia ships" deployed by China in relevant waters in the past few months was about 60 per week, but now it has increased to more than 100 per week, and after the start of joint military exercises between the United States and the Philippines, the total number of Chinese ships deployed in relevant waters in the South China Sea has reached 124.
It can be seen that China has fully grasped the initiative in the South China Sea, and the United States and the Philippines should not try to take advantage of any provocative activities.
(Foreign media released satellite photos on April 26, the Shandong aircraft carrier has returned to its home port in Sanya)
Perhaps it was precisely because of China's full preparation that the United States seemed to have begun to "keep a low profile". The USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, which entered the South China Sea not long ago, did not participate in the "Shoulder to Shoulder 2024" military exercise, but left the "10-dash line" area of the South China Sea a few days ago and arrived at the port of Thailand for a visit.
So far, the official photos released by the US-Philippine joint exercise have not shown the main warships such as the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer of the US Navy, and the warships sent by the US military are limited to some amphibious landing ships and supply ships. Of course, the US-Philippine joint exercise will last until 10 May, and it cannot be ruled out that the main warships of the US military will participate in the future.
(In December last year, a Philippine militant group summoned a large number of civilian ships to Ren'ai Jiao to provoke, but it ended hastily as soon as they set off.)
Some "radical" forces in the Philippines were greatly disappointed by the United States' "low profile" and began to find ways to "stir up trouble." According to Philippine media reports, an organization called the "Atinito" alliance (translated into Chinese means "this is ours") plans to hold a large-scale provocation to gather 100 civilian ships by recruiting non-governmental people, intending to go to Scarborough Shoal and other waters in mid-May to provoke China's sovereignty after the U.S.-Philippines joint exercise ends.
However, this organization actually organized a similar activity on December 10 last year, claiming to have summoned dozens of Filipino civilian boats to set off from Palawan Island to provoke the waters of Ren'ai Jiao, but under the strict preparedness of the Chinese side, more than a dozen Filipino fishing boats escaped "out of security concerns" when they set off that day, and the remaining boats also hastily ended their activities shortly after departure and returned to the docks on Palawan Island.
It can be seen from this that this group of people is a rabble, and in the face of China's absolute superiority, any clamor and intimidation by them is futile and even more ridiculous.
Therefore, if we believe in the PLA, the China Coast Guard, and our fishermen, we will not lose our sovereignty in the South China Sea.