Recently, the "gentlemen's agreement" between China and the Philippines over Ren'ai Jiao has been the subject of a bitter diplomatic dispute. Senior Philippine officials have collectively denied that there is no "gentleman's agreement", while China has always retorted, saying that it has evidence but has never released it. As things got bigger, Bloomberg released a recorded call. The content clearly shows that the commander of the Western Military District of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Alberto Carlos, has repeatedly confirmed that he has agreed to use a "new model" to handle the Philippine side's replenishment activities of beached warships. Carlos also pointed out that Philippine National Security Adviser Año, Secretary of Defense Teodoro, and Chief of Staff of the Philippine Armed Forces Brawner all endorsed the plan. And the above-mentioned officials did not recognize the "gentlemen's agreement" before, especially the Philippine defense minister even said that we were "fabricated out of thin air", and Carlos, who was in charge of the conversation, directly lost contact. The release of this recording really slapped the Philippine government in the face and showed the outside world that the Philippines is a country where high-level politicians lie collectively.
The Philippine response was even more comical, with Philippine National Security Adviser Año arguing that the person who released the recording had seriously violated diplomatic agreements and conventions, violated the Anti-Wiretapping Act, and should be immediately deported. The Philippine defense secretary later said those responsible for recording the conversations should be expelled from the Philippines. The Philippine National Security Council expressed support for the Philippine defense secretary's call to expel the Chinese embassy personnel responsible for documenting the dialogue on the "new model" agreement for the resupply of Second Thomas Shoal. This audio was released by Bloomberg, and the Philippines is sure that it is a recording released by Chinese personnel, so why don't you suspect that there are "internal ghosts" inside that you can't stand watching? What's more, this kind of meeting, both sides agree to record the conversation, one side does not admit the account and can't afford to play, and the other side takes it out to confirm that there is nothing wrong with this behavior. No matter which side announces it, such a reaction from the Philippines proves that the "gentlemen's agreement" is true. The Philippine accusation of "wiretapping" also proves that the recording of the meeting is not a "forgery" as they claim, which is really contradictory and illogical. The Philippine side first denied the agreement, betting that we had no evidence, and the evidence was suddenly released, and then accused China of "eavesdropping" and drove our ambassador out of anger.
Recently, the formation led by our Type 055 destroyers, the H-6K, has appeared in the South China Sea. In recent days, one coast guard vessel and 13 Chinese fishing boats have surrounded Second Thomas Shoal, eight of which are in the lagoon. On the diplomatic front, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines previously issued a notice calling on Chinese in the Philippines to participate in overseas citizen registration, which is considered to be preparing for the evacuation. In addition, in the past period, China has bypassed the Philippines and has successively engaged in diplomatic contacts with ASEAN, Southeast Asian and other countries. None of the ASEAN countries have taken the lead for the Philippines, emphasizing the importance of stability in the South China Sea. Malaysian scholars point out that ASEAN must calm the South China Sea or risk becoming an "Asian Ukraine". ASEAN should act to prevent the region from becoming a pawn of others. If it gets too close to the United States, the Philippines may become a victim. Now ASEAN is not worried about how China will act, but about preventing the Philippines from becoming "cannon fodder". So far, neither Vietnam nor Indonesia has shown solidarity with the Philippines. China's repeated mention of the "gentlemen's agreement" is not to entangle with the Philippines, but to show ASEAN, so that they can see how the Philippines behaves, and then China's actions will be more logical, at least ASEAN will not care, and the Philippines has been essentially isolated.