The Philippines can't wait? Spread rumors about "planting islands" in the South China Sea!
The Philippines really played tricks out of the sky, and even spread rumors that China was "planting islands" on Xianbin Reef in Nansha, and was directly slapped in the face by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to refute the rumors. What's going on?
The Philippines said on May 11 that it had deployed ships to a disputed area in the South China Sea, accusing China of building "artificial islands" there, according to Reuters. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos' office said in a statement that the Philippine Coast Guard dispatched a vessel to monitor China's alleged illegal activities in building "artificial islands" and said that two other ships were being deployed in the area on a rotational basis.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin refuted this at a regular press conference. Wang Wenbin said that the Philippine side's accusations against China are groundless and pure rumors. Recently, the Philippine side has repeatedly spread rumors, deliberately smeared China, and tried to mislead the international community, which is futile. We urge the Philippine side to stop making irresponsible remarks, face up to the facts, and return to the right track of properly handling maritime differences through negotiation and consultation as soon as possible.
In fact, the so-called "seed island" is nothing more than a survey ship of the South China Sea Bureau of the Ministry of Natural Resources doing some scientific research operations near Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands, but in fact, as early as April 18, the Philippine Coast Guard ship stayed near Xianbin Reef, and its divers photographed the sandbar on the Xianbin Reef, and then slandered China for carrying out artificial island-building operations there.
First of all, Xianbin Reef is an island and reef of China's Nansha Islands, China has indisputable sovereignty, and what China does there is reasonable and legal, so it is not unusual for China to "plant islands" on Xianbin Reef. However, in the case that China is not engaged in infrastructure construction there, the Philippines slanders that China is engaged in infrastructure there, which is a conspiracy. Just as Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin pointed out, the Philippines wants to mislead the international community, to shift the responsibility for complicating the South China Sea issue to China, to provoke contradictions between China and ASEAN, and to take the opportunity to attract NATO allies to confront China in the South China Sea for the United States. However, China is not to be fooled.
So, why is the Philippines spreading such rumors? In fact, this is closely related to his political line in the past year or two. Marcos Jr. has been so anti-China since he took office, and there is a high probability that he has a handle in the hands of the Americans, which we can see from his knee-jerk actions in the face of Biden when he visited the White House. At the same time, he also wants to gain economic benefits from the United States by currying favor with the United States, which is the same logic as Lithuania's original permission for the Taiwan authorities to set up a "Taiwan representative office" in Lithuania.
However, the current Philippines is really too deep into the drama! How deep is it? Just a few days ago, a senior Philippine official went so far as to suggest the expulsion of Chinese diplomats. The expulsion of diplomats is of a very serious nature, which means that they have begun to openly tear their faces. If the Philippines tries to threaten China with this means, of course, it will have to deliberately find fault and stir up trouble, and if there is a serious diplomatic conflict with China, the Philippines can throw the blame on China.
In this regard, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that the relevant statement of the Philippine side just proves that they are weak in the face of facts and evidence, and have reached the point of being angry and have no bottom line. The Chinese side solemnly demands that the Philippine side earnestly ensure that Chinese diplomats perform their duties normally, stop violating rights and provocations, refrain from denying facts, refraining from reckless actions, and refraining from lifting a stone to shoot itself in the foot. China's meaning is very clear: do not threaten China, otherwise it will be met with tougher countermeasures from China.
Another reason why the Philippines is so eager to slander and attack China like this is that he can't wait, hoping that the United States will support him more, that the United States will support him with real money, and that the United States will send a large amount of investment to stimulate the Philippine economic growth while supporting the Philippines.
Frankly speaking, the Philippines is really a pipe dream, the real economy of the United States is gone, the current level of development of the Philippines, the United States even thinks that the Philippines is not qualified to engage in financial robbery, how can it be possible to invest in it? Without the industrial chain of physical manufacturing, how can he invest in the Philippines? Therefore, the current pattern has been formed, and it is completely the Marcos Jr. government that has lost its mind and gone crazy!
The Philippines forces China to "plant islands", should we fulfill it?
The Philippines spread rumors that China is "planting islands" in Nansha with the intention of stirring up trouble, provoking contradictions between China and ASEAN, and attracting more attention from the United States and NATO allies, hoping to gain more support. However, since the Philippines has reminded China, should we go with the flow?
Whether it is a smooth sailing boat, Zhan Hao thinks that it depends on two points:
The first is whether it is still necessary to "plant islands" in Nansha, or whether our islands and reefs in Nansha are deployed enough. Zhan Hao believes that if you look at it from the perspective of a few years ago, the current deployment is sufficient, but now the situation is different, the military cooperation between the United States and the Philippines has been upgraded, and even the US military has deployed medium-range missiles to the Philippines. Think about it, what if the United States deploys more advanced medium-range missiles and nuclear weapons in the Philippines in the future? Do we still think the reef is enough? This is one of them. Second, we should see that our blue-water navy is taking shape, and the future aircraft carrier fleet will go to the Indian Ocean. Once China's aircraft carrier fleet reaches the Indian Ocean, considering the next confrontation between China and the United States, will the Strait of Malacca be particularly important? With our current military deployment in the Nansha Islands, it is still possible to do defense, but if we stand to maintain peace and stability in the Strait of Malacca and the Indian Ocean, will these islands and reefs still be enough? I'm afraid it's also debatable. Therefore, Zhan Hao believes that if there is an opportunity to plant Nansha islands and reefs, it will be beneficial to plant them in the long run.
The second is whether the consequences of "planting islands" in Nansha are serious. In the past, we mainly considered this matter at two levels: first, we did not want to push the Philippines to the side of the United States, so we tried to refrain from it; Second, we do not want to have suspicion with ASEAN, which is China's economic backyard and a very important geopolitical support for China to have an advantage in the game with the United States. So, what if the South China Sea countries have no opinion? Or did they acquiesce? The situation may be different.
Therefore, we saw that Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong went to Indonesia and pointed out to Indonesia the problem of the deployment of medium-range missiles by the US military in the Philippines. Also, in the past few months, we have done a lot of work on the South China Sea countries.
Therefore, when China is forced to be helpless, and when all countries in the South China Sea understand, it is still very necessary to "plant islands". Therefore, next, if the Philippines pushes China into a hurry, Zhan Hao believes that China will make a choice and will fulfill the Philippines by the way.
However, China is now trying to stabilize its neighborhood, not to let it become an international hot spot, and not to be fooled by the United States. Why? Because now is the most troublesome time for the United States. The Ukrainian crisis in Eastern Europe is becoming more and more unfavorable for the United States, and the Russian army is constantly achieving victories. As far as the United States is concerned, the more central point is the Palestinian-Israeli issue, and now the United States has fallen into the quagmire of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the diplomatic quagmire caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Under such circumstances, the most important goal that the United States wants to achieve is to attract firepower to China. Therefore, you can see that the Taiwan authorities of China are stirring up trouble in Kinmen, and the Philippines is continuing to stir up trouble in the South China Sea, these are all plots behind the United States, and China is not fooled!
However, as time goes on and the situation in the Middle East and Eastern Europe becomes more tense, will anyone in the South China Sea still be concerned? At that time, if the Philippines does not look long, the price to pay may be great! Many things are a matter of trade-offs, timing, and heat. The Philippines is so short-sighted, there are times when he suffers a big loss! Think about the time, Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi offended China, and later asked China for help when he was strangled by the United States and NATO, and China did not say a word. Looking at the Syrian president, when the United States was chasing him around the world, China sent a transfer plane to pick him up for his visit to China. That's the difference! The Philippines, there will be a price!
Source: Zhanhao WeChat public account