After China released the recording, the Philippines was slapped in the face, and then began to "retaliate" against China, and the Chinese navy has also rushed to the South China Sea.
In the past two days, because of a recording of a call released to foreign media by officials of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, China and the Philippines have once again competed against each other. The call completely and clearly revealed that China and the Philippines had reached a consensus on the "new model" of Ren'ai Jiao transportation and replenishment, and even a number of high-level officials, including Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro, expressed their approval of this plan.
The release of this recording also directly debunked the Philippines' previous lies. Therefore, many high-level officials of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Defense have denied the incident, and claimed that the recording of the call was "deliberately falsified" by the Chinese side. Even its national security adviser, Eduardo Arnold, has called for the expulsion of Chinese officials who released the recording.
Obviously, this series of angry reactions of the Philippines is enough to prove the truth of the matter. The spokesman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also calmly said that the current statement of the Philippines can only prove that it is weak in the face of facts and evidence. No matter how much the Philippines tries to deny it, this recording is enough to confirm that they have reversed course on the Second Thomas Shoal issue.
However, after the Philippine government was slapped in the face, it also immediately launched "retaliation" against China. It is reported that in the past two days, Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Domingo announced that stricter visa controls will be imposed on Chinese citizens in the middle of this month, and the reason given by the Philippine side is that fraudulent immigration applications for illegal entry and overstay of foreigners have been discovered recently.
According to the new visa regulations, foreign nationals applying for a Philippine visa need to provide a series of supporting documents such as social security certificates, bank statements, support letters notarized by Philippine landlords, and in-flight wine reservations. Moreover, now the Philippine Consulate in China has found that thousands of Chinese tourists have overstayed.
Amid ongoing tensions between China and the Philippines, the Philippines has tightened visa controls on Chinese, if not for other reasons, casting a shadow over the relationship. Not only that, but during the recent joint military exercises, the United States, Australia and the Philippines also used a Chinese-made civilian cruise ship as an imaginary enemy ship and dropped bombs on it to sink it.
Although the Philippines claims that the exercise is not aimed at any country, it is no accident that Chinese-made ships are targeted, not to mention that this is the first time that the US-Philippine joint military exercise has been held in waters outside the Philippine territorial waters, which is clearly aimed at China.
For these small actions of the Philippines, the Chinese side naturally knows what kind of medicine they sell in their gourds. As a result, in the past two days, the 10,000-ton drive of the PLA's southern theater also went directly to the South China Sea. It has been learned that a training formation composed of the Zunyi destroyer Type 055 and a number of main combat ships, including the Haikou, Xianning, and Kunming, has gone to a certain area in the South China Sea to carry out actual combat training.
As a large destroyer of 10,000 tons, the Zunyi ship is quite strong in combat effectiveness, not only with 130 mm caliber shells, but also with 1130 type close-in defense guns and vertical launch systems, and even can be loaded with anti-ship missiles, medium and long-range missiles, short-range air defense missiles and other types of shells.
In addition, the main purpose of this training in the Southern Theater is to enhance the overall actual combat capability of the formation and the ability of various units to coordinate operations. Maritime operations, air defense and anti-missile defense, and anti-submarine warfare are the key subjects of this formation training. Obviously, at this critical juncture, the Chinese navy's rush to the South China Sea to carry out actual combat training is by no means just routine training.
First, at the time of the joint military exercises between the United States and the Philippines, both countries have already come to China's doorstep to provoke demonstrations, and China will naturally not turn a blind eye. The fact that the Zunyi ship took the lead this time is enough to see that China's move is quite a knock on the mountain and shake the tiger. It is also warning the United States and the Philippines not to act rashly.
Second, it is a response to the recent actions of the Philippines. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has directly flexed its muscles in the South China Sea to let the Philippines see China's true strength. China's patience also has a certain limit, and if the Philippines does not rein in, the PLA will not be afraid of anything.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is confident and capable of stopping any attempt to infringe on the mainland's territorial sovereignty, and if the Philippines thinks that the United States can support it, it is a big mistake, and it will only be a point of no return if it continues to be used by the United States.