On May 10, the US-Philippines "shoulder to shoulder" joint military exercise came to an end, and the exercise, which was attended by 18 countries and aimed at China, not only did not gain any substantive benefits, but was "watched" and monitored by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the whole process, failing to cross the South China Sea issue by half a step. On the afternoon of 10 May, the US guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey illegally intruded into China's territorial waters in the Xisha Paracels without Chinese approval in an attempt to "set an example" for the Philippines. On May 11, the Philippines said it had deployed ships to the South China Sea and accused China of building "artificial islands" in disputed waters.
But the South China Sea is not a "stage" for the United States and the Philippines. While the United States and the Philippines are using military exercises to "flex their muscles," the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has held a number of military training sessions in the South China Sea in succession, and at the same time deployed H-6K and a number of main warships on Woody Island and Mischief Island to form an "encirclement" of the US-Philippine coalition forces. In addition, in response to the US warship's intrusion into the territorial waters of the Xisha Islands, the PLA naval and air forces tracked, monitored, and warned and drove away in accordance with the law. It is not difficult to see that under the frequent provocations of the US side, the patience of the officers and men in the theater is running out.
In response to the issue of the so-called "artificial islands" in the Philippines, three Chinese research ships recently entered the relevant waters of Ren'ai Jiao to conduct detailed exploration of the hydrological conditions and topographic factors in the relevant sea areas, and the next step may be to fill in the Ren'ai Jiao. If the reclamation goes well, Ren'ai Jiao is expected to replicate the model of Mischief Reef and develop into a "Ren'ai Island", the broken Philippine ships will be buried on land, and the so-called "transportation and replenishment" will no longer exist. All indications show that in the face of the ill-intentioned "porcelain encounter" between the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea, China has defended its national sovereignty and territorial integrity with a high degree of strategic wisdom and bloodlessly, and fully complies with international law and morality, leaving the United States and the Philippines blameless.
In this situation, the United States and the Philippines are still unwilling to fail. On the one hand, in mid-June, the United States will hold a military exercise in the Rim of the Pacific, which is expected to involve 28 countries, and it is called the "largest military exercise", and its spearhead is undoubtedly aimed at China. On the other hand, the Philippines plans to use ordinary people as "shields" to organize 100 civilian ships to forcibly invade Scarborough Shoal, while some countries also see the opportunity to intervene in the South China Sea issue in order to exert pressure on China or obtain improper geopolitical interests. At present, India has just dispatched three warships to the Philippines, and Germany and Italy have announced that they will dispatch warships and planes to participate in the US RIMPAC exercise. Not long ago, the 003 Fujian aircraft carrier has just completed sea trials, and some public opinion predicts that it will become an army within half a year, when China will enter the era of "three aircraft carriers", and it is not inferior to the US military in ground, air and anti-ship firepower, and the US media reminded the Biden administration: it is not worth going to war with China for the sake of reefs and coral reefs.
The essence of the South China Sea issue is a game between China and the United States, and if any external force wants to be the "vanguard" of the United States, it will only be the first to be used by the PLA to "sacrifice the flag".