According to information from various media, not long ago, the Philippines dispatched a small plane to carry out an "airdrop" of supplies to the Philippine amphibious ship "Sierra Madre," which was illegally "beached." For such evil acts in the Philippines, our side has dealt with them in accordance with laws and regulations.
When I saw this news, the author actually felt quite strange, after all, the Philippines dispatched a small transport plane this time, which is said to be a British-made BN-2 "Islander" transport aircraft, and the flight radius of this transport aircraft is hundreds of kilometers, which may not be enough if it is fully loaded with supplies. Then, we can't help but wonder, how can such a small plane fly over Ren'ai Jiao to resupply the reef occupied by the Philippines?
The author believes that it is very likely that the Philippine plane that flew to Ren'ai Jiao departed from the airport on Thitu Island, which was also forcibly occupied by the Philippines. Compared with Second Thomas Shoal, Thitu Island has been forcibly occupied by the Philippines for a longer period of time, from 1971 to the present, for more than 50 years. The Philippines has also expanded its airport and other facilities on the island, almost turning it into a "sea fortress". And not long ago, there was a noteworthy news, according to a report by the global network on May 17, the Philippine Secretary of Defense had forcibly landed on Thitu Island before and presided over the "groundbreaking ceremony" of a new Philippine military camp. It can be seen that the Philippine side is still constantly strengthening its military presence on Thitu Island.
Although Thitu Island is not large, its geographical location is located in the middle of Thitu Reef, which can be said to be the "sea throat" connecting Nansha-Xisha-Zhongsha. It is very likely that it is also because of this that the Philippines has been expanding various facilities on Thitu Island, and a large number of Philippine active armed personnel have also been stationed on Thitu Island.
As we know, the Philippines has illegally seized a number of other islands and reefs in the South China Sea, except for Thitu Island and Ren'ai Jiao, and Thitu Island is the largest and most well-equipped of them. In the author's opinion, it is very likely that the Philippines will now use Thitu Island as a "stronghold" to settle down there, so as to further strengthen its military presence on the Philippine-occupied islands and reefs in the South China Sea. And we really need to be vigilant about such a situation.
What do you think?