The Philippines, which has been constantly provoking China in the South China Sea, has not stopped in recent times. After repeatedly trespassing on China's islands and reefs without success, it has now begun to go one step further and seek to use force to change the "status quo in the South China Sea".
The Chinese Coast Guard intercepted and drove away the Philippine provocative vessel
The direct embodiment of this is that some time ago, the Philippines officially received the "BrahMos" supersonic anti-ship missiles purchased from India and deployed them in very targeted positions.
Just stuck in the 300-kilometer extreme range of the export "BrahMos", it can be included in the range of Ren'ai Jiao, which is beached by a shipwrecked Philippine ship. The Philippine move is aimed at the intentions of the Chinese coast guard and navy in the waters around Ren'ai Jiao, which can be said to be quite obvious.
The Philippines has procured Indian-made BrahMos anti-ship missiles, which have now been delivered
On the other hand, in the recent "Shoulder to Shoulder-2024" US-Philippine joint military exercise, the Philippines, which has asked the United States for "armed protection", is also a good performance, jumping up and down.
Not only did it tow out a decommissioned supply ship made in China and purchased by the Philippine Navy, but it was sunk as a target ship under various firepower strikes from the United States and the Philippines. Subsequently, the Philippine Army publicly released information, directly indicating that the US-Philippine coalition forces were practicing to sink the Chinese aircraft carrier.
The Philippine military conducted a drill with a Chinese aircraft carrier
From the above situation, it is not difficult to see that the Philippines has been constantly testing the possibility of using force in the South China Sea recently, and through this kind of jumping up and down performance, it can probe China's bottom line and attitude. The security situation in the South China Sea is likely to deteriorate further if the Philippines feels that there is an opportunity to use military risk to reap illegitimate and illegal interests in the South China Sea.
In response to this situation, it is necessary for China to respond forcefully. It is necessary to take concrete actions to make the Philippine authorities understand that a military adventure in the South China Sea is neither desirable nor likely to win. Therefore, we can see that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has recently deployed a large number of additional troops in the South China Sea, and the main forces of the Navy and Air Force have been dispatched intensively one after another.
According to the PLA's official media "China Military Horn", the PLA Air Force has sent H-6K bombers to deploy on Woody Island; What the Navy can confirm so far is that at least two Type 055 destroyers have been dispatched.
First, the open-source optical satellite photographed the 107 "Zunyi Ship" stationed at Mischief Reef and docked; Then there is the official announcement of the PLA's Southern Theater that another 055 drive has just carried out a surveillance and driving away the USS Halsey, a guided missile destroyer under the US Seventh Fleet, that trespassed on China's Xisha Islands.
In the direction of the South China Sea, two 055 large drives were deployed at the same time, which is relatively rare for the navy of the Southern Theater of Operations, which has a total of four 055 large drives in service at this stage, and secondly, it is enough to reflect the strength of this operation in the Southern Theater. It is worth noting that some time earlier, the Southern Theater issued a notice on the expulsion of the US destroyer "Halsey," and different details appeared.
055 The Great Drive was verified to drive away the US destroyer "Halsey".
Judging from the road map, the US destroyer USS Halsey, which trespassed into China's Xisha Islands, went all the way south from Japan, where the Seventh Fleet has been stationed for a long time, first crossed the Taiwan Strait, and sailed away under the condition that our army's eastern theater was effectively monitored and controlled, and its movements were controlled throughout the whole process. After that, it continued to sail south to the South China Sea, sailing to the Paracel Islands for so-called "freedom of navigation", in a vain attempt to infringe on China's sovereignty with concrete actions, in response to supporting the provocative actions of the Philippines.
However, I am afraid that even the Americans themselves did not expect that this "freedom of navigation" to Xisha would crash headlong in front of the 055 large drive formation of the Navy in the Southern Theater. Compared with the PLA's 055 drive, the "Halsey", which belongs to the "Burke II" type destroyer, can be said to be inferior to backward in all aspects. In terms of radar, power, firepower, tonnage, informatization level and battlefield perception capabilities, it is not a veritable "world's strongest destroyer" 055 major driving opponent.
The rusty destroyer USS Halsey
For the U.S. military, the embarrassment doesn't stop there. When the US Seventh Fleet routinely released propaganda photos during its voyage through the Taiwan Strait earlier, the dilapidated condition of the destroyer "Halsey" was undoubtedly exposed.
The barrels of the 30-mm naval guns on them were rusty, a large number of rust signs on the deck were obvious, and American sailors were indiscriminately discarding and placing all kinds of unrelated equipment on the deck. The whole warship is full of dilapidation, not at all like an active capital ship, but gives people a feeling of retired old cultural relics in the naval museum.
The serious problem of rust on the "Halsey" is not a day or two
The destroyer "Halsey," which was in such a bad condition, lost a crew in the Taiwan Strait, then broke into the South China Sea and encountered our army's latest cutting-edge 055 drive, and was approached to a straight-line distance of less than 2 kilometers.
The contrast between the main forces of the Chinese and American navies is even more obvious at such a close distance. Compared with American ships, the 055 drive is not only better in hard power, but also better in excellent maintenance like a brand new factory.
The US destroyer "Halsey," which is already inferior in hard power, has lost even the basic "face problem" of the ship's condition. In the end, he failed to trespass and was driven away by the 055 Massacre, which is obviously far from the "satisfactory result" that the Americans wanted.
The earliest 055 large drive ship, the 101 Nanchang ship, is still brand new as if it had just left the factory
On the other hand, the recent situation in the South China Sea also has a certain linkage with the situation in the Taiwan Strait, as can be seen from the fact that the US destroyer first sailed through the Taiwan Strait before intruding into the South China Sea without permission. As the day of the change of office of the Taiwan authorities approached on 20 May, Lai Ching-te, the new leader of the Taiwan authorities, has made clear his remarks in the previous propaganda campaign.
He claimed that at his inauguration ceremony, he would invite anti-China forces from all walks of life outside the country to attend the ceremony, and he would deliver a "Taiwan independence speech" on the spot, thus holding an "anti-China rally" in substance.
Judging from the practice of the past days of the change of the Taiwan authorities, the United States, which has long been instigating and supporting the Taiwan independence forces behind the scenes, has always dispatched a large number of warships and warships to show the actual stand of the United States in supporting the Taiwan authorities and to support their platform.
It is foreseeable that the PLA will inevitably take action at that time and take strong countermeasures against the US military's move of fueling the flames of anti-China forces and Taiwan independence forces.
The Eastern Theater of Operations of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is ready to respond
The Philippines' impatience and repeated provocations in the direction of the South China Sea cannot be ignored either. There is indeed a possibility that the Philippines will take advantage of the Taiwan Strait incident to take the opportunity to take action in the direction of the South China Sea, provoke China's sovereignty, and vainly attempt to encroach on China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea.
In this regard, the PLA is currently deploying additional main forces in the direction of the South China Sea, and has made all preparations to deal with it. Whether the United States or the Philippines provoke in the South China Sea, the PLA is confident and more capable of defending national sovereignty and interests.
Some of the content in the article is sourced:
Ministry of State Security: The deliberate and illegal intervention of foreign countries is the source of chaos in the South China Sea
In the East and South China Seas, Washington should not take risks丨Global Times