The U.S.-Philippine exercises near the South China Sea have been going on for eight days, and Blinken is also visiting China from April 24 to 26. Although it was well aware that the other party was not good, the Chinese side still treated the guests with courtesy. The day after Blinken returned home, our navy began exercises against the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
On April 27, the Philippine Navy's AW-109 helicopter appeared on the deck of the dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry while AW-109 was conducting a cross-deck operation. The contents of a series of exercises conducted by the United States and the Philippines that day were all recorded by the Type 815A electronic reconnaissance ship not far away.
The 815A is less than 2 nautical miles away from the U.S. and Philippine warships, which means that the warships of both sides are almost face-to-face. The United States and the Philippines are very angry about this, after all, it is really too rare for a third-party warship to directly slap in the face in a joint exercise like this. But they also dare to be angry and dare not speak, after all, if they dare to do something to the 815A, it is equivalent to directly declaring war on China, and then the US and Philippine warships will definitely not be able to get out of the South China Sea.
However, is this scene a bit familiar to the United States when it dared to be angry but did not dare to say it? I think that in those years, the US military sent an EP3 reconnaissance plane into the coastal waters of the mainland to collect intelligence in a swaggering manner. Now feng shui is turning, and the side that should swallow the anger has become the United States.
On April 28, the mainland's Type 054A frigate was also dispatched, closely following the Franco-Philippine warship, about 6-9 nautical miles apart. Fafi also did not dare to squeak, after all, the firepower of the 054A should not be underestimated. Once the 054A loses its temper, a single missile can sink Fafe's warship into the sea.
This time the actions of the United States and Japan are somewhat different, Japan is very abnormal in not sending warships, and the United States has not made any more publicity, which is seriously inconsistent with the character of the United States and Japan.
Japan and the United States began to stop provoking China's bottom line
The previous talks between the heads of state of the United States, Japan and the Philippines caused a lot of uproar, and the Japanese, American, and Philippine media hyped it up, as if they were afraid that China would not know. Since that meeting, the Philippines has noticeably increased the frequency and intensity of disturbances in the South China Sea, and the United States has assured Japan that it will help Japan improve its military capabilities, and even does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons to protect Japan.
Under such circumstances, Japan, a country that has coveted China for a long time, should not give up the opportunity to deter China. And the "Shoulder to Shoulder 24" held by the Philippines this time is the best opportunity at the moment. However, what is suspicious is that before the military exercise began, the Philippines was full of joy and waited for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force to send personnel to participate, but Japan announced that it did not plan to send personnel to participate in the "Shoulder to Shoulder 24" exercise, which surprised many people.
In addition, the United States is also somewhat abnormal this time. The US media not only did not hype up the exercise, but it was quiet all along. In the face of the mainland's 815A electronic reconnaissance ship "cheeky" face-to-face "sailing" with the US military, the US military did not react at all.
In fact, the biggest possibility is that at the Western Pacific Naval Forum held by China some time ago, China's talks with Japan, the United States and other countries played a role, causing them to dare not continue to provoke China's bottom line.
Although I don't know what exactly the two sides said at the naval forum, judging from the degree of suspension between the United States and Japan this time, and the fact that Blinken did not make any disrespectful and arrogant remarks during his visit to China, China's negotiations with the United States and Japan still have a certain effect. Of course, if you want them to stop there, that's unlikely.
The mainland research ship approached the door of the Philippine house, and the Philippines panicked
Recently, an interesting scene occurred near the Philippine mainland waters, when the mainland's "Shen Kuo" scientific research ship actually appeared near Catanraines Island in the Philippines. This is the first time that China has sent a scientific research ship to the door of another country, especially at a time of extreme tension between China and the United States. Although "Shen Kuo" was in the public waters and did not enter the territorial waters of the Philippines, this still aroused great concern from the Philippine side.
At that time, the Philippine side was very nervous and hurriedly shouted for "Shen Kuo" to leave, but because our side was located in the public waters, the Philippine side's shouting had no effect at all. What should we do, ignore the Philippine side completely.
"Shen Kuo" should be collecting hydrological data in the nearby sea area this time, not only to facilitate our side to better understand the marine ecosystem and meteorological changes in this sea area, but also to understand the fishery development in this sea area, so as to facilitate mainland fishermen to go out to sea to fish.
The most important thing is that "Shen Kuo" can help us grasp the water temperature, current, salinity, and sound velocity profile in this sea area as soon as possible, and if China and the Philippines really come to the point where they are about to go to war, the PLA can use the data collected by "Shen Kuo" and the real-time monitoring data of relevant sea areas to understand the operating depth and path of US submarines. In this way, the Chinese Navy will not be afraid of a surprise attack by US submarines.
The United States and the Philippines can carry out joint exercises in the South China Sea, and our side can send three ships before and after: the 814A electronic reconnaissance ship, the Type 054A frigate, and the "Shen Kuo" scientific research ship to collect exercise data, monitor and guard against surprise attacks by the United States and the Philippines, and understand the situation in the waters at the Philippines' doorstep, so as to prepare for future fishing and combat.