Marcos personally went into battle, taking a two-pronged approach to China, wanting to test China's position, the Chinese Foreign Ministry made the bottom line clear, and after the PLA ended, was the Philippines afraid?
After entering May, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has twice drawn a "forbidden zone" in the South China Sea to carry out military training, first from May 3 to 5, the Qinglan Maritime Safety Bureau announced that military training would be held in some waters of the South China Sea, and secondly, from May 5 to 12, the Guangzhou Maritime Safety Bureau announced that some waters of the South China Sea would be closed to navigation for a week and shooting training was held. The PLA's relay training and the Fujian's sea trials show that China's patience in the South China Sea is losing under intensive provocations by the Philippines, and that defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity by military means is on the agenda. On May 5, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said that the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard would not "follow China's example" and use water cannons and other equipment in the South China Sea. The implication is that there will be no armed confrontation with China, lest a military conflict break out between China and the Philippines, which implies the expectation that the situation in the South China Sea will cool down.
How much credibility Marcos' words have is unknown. On the one hand, as the United States continues to increase its military and economic investment in the South China Sea, the Biden administration's coercion of the Marcos administration is also increasing, and it is doubtful whether the Philippines can maintain its position on the situation in the South China Sea. On the other hand, the Philippines has not been sincere in its actions despite sending some kind of "compromise" signals, and not long ago two Philippine ships trespassed into the waters off China's Scarborough Shoal and were forced back by the Chinese coast guard. Recently, Philippine National Security Adviser Año, Secretary of Defense Teodoro and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have issued statements one after another, denying that China and the Philippines have reached any agreement on the Ren'ai Jiao issue, including a "new model". The Philippine official's remarks are inseparable from the "confidence" given by the US side, and the US missiles have recently been deployed on the Philippine island of Luzon in the direction of the South China Sea, posing a certain threat to China in the direction of the South China Sea. Against this backdrop, the Philippines is preparing a "two-pronged" approach to test China's position and judge the intensity of future provocations in the South China Sea.
In response to Manila's move to overturn its commitment to China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry recently made three sentences: First, the "gentlemen's agreement" between China and the Philippines is an agreement reached through intensive consultations between China and the Philippines, aimed at maintaining regional peace and stability in China-Philippines relations. Second, China and the Philippines have reached an internal understanding on the management of the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, and the Marcos administration has also implemented one of the replenishment measures at Ren'ai Jiao. Third, the "new model" of Ren'ai Jiao transportation and replenishment has been confirmed by the Philippine military many times, and the entire chain of command, including the Philippine defense secretary and national security advisers, has been informed and agreed. The Chinese side ruthlessly exposed the ugly face of the Philippine side of untrustworthy and urged the Philippine side to keep its promises, so that the slander of the Philippines will be self-defeating.
The Philippines is legally and morally untenable on the issue of sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea, including Ren'ai Jiao, and if the Marcos administration continues to stir up nonsense, China's sharp sword will be held high and it will be ready to "set an example to the chickens" at any time. In response to Marcos's remarks, China also gave the last chance and proposed "five stops" for a peaceful settlement of the South China Sea issue. demand that the Philippines immediately stop forcibly intruding into the waters adjacent to China's Nansha Islands and Scarborough Shoal; cessation of the delivery of construction materials or the construction of permanent facilities to the "beached" warships; cessation of illegal reef landings; stop forming factions and flexing force; Stop spreading disinformation and misleading the international community.
The situation in the South China Sea has now entered the stage of "showdown", and for the Philippines, if it wants to fight, the PLA will accompany it to the end, and if it wants to talk, it must take the lead in showing sincerity and achieve the "five stops".