On May 10, the last day of the "Shoulder to Shoulder-24" exercise between the United States and the Philippines, the Philippines sent a ship to force its way into China's Scarborough Shoal while the exercise was held, and was finally suppressed by the Chinese Coast Guard, and all important facilities such as radar were scrapped, causing more than 3 million losses.
After this invasion of the island, both the US military and the Philippine army have become much more honest, and the situation in the South China Sea has calmed down a lot for the time being. Unexpectedly, however, the US military took advantage of the last day of the exercise to suddenly dispatch the "Halsey" missile in an attempt to force its way into China's islands and reefs.
It is worth mentioning that on 8 May, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) discovered that the missile destroyer had entered the mainland's Taiwan Strait without reporting. At that time, our side sent warships to follow the whole process and shout.
As a result, after leaving the Taiwan Strait, the warship went straight to the mainland's territorial waters of Xisha in an attempt to break through the defense line laid by the People's Liberation Army and the coast guard here.
In the past, there were many such actions, and in order to reduce losses, US warships usually used right-angle turns to touch porcelain. But no matter what method they use, the Chinese navy and coast guard will not let their plot succeed.
According to Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesman for the Southern Theater, as soon as the US warships approached, the Southern Theater went out on high alert to conduct sea and air forces to track and monitor the entire process to ensure China's sovereignty, integrity, and security. Such actions by the United States are already a serious violation of China's sovereignty and security, a greater "hegemony in navigation", and a "militarization of the South China Sea." The United States is now an out-and-out "security risk maker in the South China Sea" and the "biggest factor" in undermining peace in the South China Sea. The Southern Theater will always be on high alert and will not allow any "well-intentioned person" to disrupt the situation in the South China Sea.
The United States wants to win over Vietnam to do something in the Paracel Islands
Taking advantage of the end of the exercise, the United States turned the island-seizing exercise into a "real island-seizing" exercise, probably because of its dissatisfaction during this period. There is no doubt that the real purpose of such a 10,000-strong exercise in the South China Sea with the Philippines is to deter China. But in the end, China was not deterred, but sent a large number of warships to "encircle" the United States and the Philippines, making them tremble with fear.
Because they were surrounded by PLA warships, the US warships kept moving cautiously and did not dare to cross the line for half a minute. It is precisely because of this move that the US military is bound to feel very faceless. If they return to China in such a gloomy manner, there will inevitably be talk in the international community that the US military is afraid of the PLA, and the United States will have to be a head behind China at that time.
That's why the U.S. military made such a show on the last day of the exercise, hoping to get back in front of the Philippines and save a little face.
In addition, the trespassing of the Paracel Islands is also a model for Vietnam. In the past, the United States has been urging Vietnam to come to the Paracel Islands to find trouble, and it is better to follow the example of the Philippines, which will come every once in a while, causing the PLA and the coast guard to be uneasy.
Regarding the contradictions and conflicts between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, Vietnam has always adhered to a state of neutrality. Earlier, when China met with ASEAN foreign ministers to discuss ASEAN's position on the conflict in the South China Sea, Vietnam publicly expressed its support for China. In other words, Vietnam is unwilling to follow the example of the Philippines and openly confront China on the South China Sea issue.
This is contrary to the deployment of the United States in the South China Sea, and the United States has always hoped that Vietnam will become a second Philippines, and even more so than the Philippines. However, Vietnam has not been able to play a trick, maintaining friendly exchanges with the United States, but also unwilling to become an enemy of China on the South China Sea issue.
The U.S. side may guess that Vietnam is worried that it will not have a backing, so it wants to send a signal of support to Vietnam by forcibly encroaching on the Paracel Islands.
The PLA's deployment of troops in the South China Sea is comparable to that of the US military
In fact, no matter how much the United States makes a fuss, it is a fact that its military deployment in the South China Sea is becoming more and more weak. The United States did not even send an amphibious assault ship for this exercise, while China has already deployed two fleets led by the 055 drive around the perimeter.
One is the formation headed by the 055 Daqi No. 107 "Zunyi Ship", which includes the No. 172 "Kunming" ship 052D destroyer, the No. 171 "Haikou" ship 052C destroyer, and the No. 500 "Xianning" ship 054A frigate.
This formation not only monitored the movements of US and Philippine warships in the South China Sea, but also carried out live-fire exercises in relevant waters of the South China Sea, equipped with Haihongqi-16, Haihongqi-9B anti-aircraft missiles, YJ-21, and YJ-18. If there is an abnormal movement in the South China Sea, these missiles can sink the US and Philippine warships to the bottom of the sea at any time.
In addition, there is also a fleet headed by the No. 105 "Dalian" ship 055 Daqi, including the No. 174 "Hefei" ship 052D destroyer, the No. 552 "Chenzhou" ship 054A frigate, and a Project 887 "Weishanhu" large supply ship, which has run to the Philippines through the relevant sea areas.
In addition, during the US-Philippine exercise, the mainland was surrounded by electronic reconnaissance ships and Wuzhan-7 and other military aircraft and warships.
These warships are more than enough to deal with a medium-sized battle, even against a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group. That's why the US is looking for "proxies" everywhere in Asia to create incidents around China and achieve its goal of containing China by controlling these countries. However, the US conspiracy is doomed to fail, after all, the US military will not be able to meet the PLA, let alone these small countries. There is no need for a firepower duel, and you can start directly from the economy and trade, and you can make them surrender obediently.