At the last critical juncture, China and the Philippines have reached an agreement, the Marcos administration banned the "first shot" in the South China Sea, and the Philippine military "kicked away" the medium-range missile system deployed by the US military in the Philippines. What does the withdrawal of the US medium-range missile system from the Philippines mean?
A few days ago, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong and Philippine Vice Foreign Minister Lazaro co-chaired the ninth meeting of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea in Manila. This can't help but arouse the curiosity of the outside world, so what exactly did the Philippines and the Philippines talk about at this meeting? In general, the two sides reached consensus on three main points: first, both sides believe that maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea is in the interests of both China and the Philippines and is the common goal of regional countries; Second, the two sides agreed to continue to maintain dialogue and consultation through China-Philippines bilateral consultations on the South China Sea issue and other mechanisms to manage contradictions and differences. Third, the two sides will continue to discuss ways to improve the communication mechanism on maritime issues, promote dialogue between the coast guards of the two countries, and promote cooperation and exchanges in marine science and technology and environmental protection.
Soon after the meeting between China and the Philippines ended, news came that the Philippine military had received an order that the Philippine Marcos government had forbidden the Philippine military from firing the "first shot" in the South China Sea. Recently, the top Philippine general, General Brauner, announced that he had received a supreme order from Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos that according to the results of high-level consultations between China and the Philippines in Manila, the Philippine military should not act recklessly in the South China Sea. Not only that, after Marcos gave the order, another news came out that the Philippine military "kicked away" the medium-range missile system previously deployed by the US military in the Philippines. On the 4th, a Philippine military spokesman said that a US intermediate-range missile launch system deployed in the Philippines for the joint military exercises between the United States and the Philippines is expected to be withdrawn from the Philippines in September this year or earlier.
It is understood that in April this year, the US Army's 1st Multi-Domain Task Force deployed the "Intermediate-Range Strike Capability" missile system in northern Luzon of the Philippines for the first time in history, which is also known as the "Typhon" weapon system, which is not only the first time since the end of the Cold War that the United States has deployed intermediate-range missiles overseas and in the Asia-Pacific region, but also the first deployment of such weapons after the United States withdrew from the "Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty" in 2019. It is reported that the system is intended primarily for launching Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as compatible RIM-174 "Standard" SM-6 ballistic missiles, which can be used against surface targets. The deployment of the "Typhon" weapon system by the US military in the northern part of Luzon Island has also allowed the US military in the Philippines to strike along the coast of China and the South China Sea. Its purpose is obvious, it is aimed at China.
So why is the Philippine side now asking the US military to withdraw the system? The Philippine side said that the purpose of deploying the system in the Philippines was to cooperate with the Philippines in conducting the two military exercises "Shoulder to Shoulder" and "Salaknib", and now that the exercises have ended, the system will be withdrawn from the Philippines. But is this really the case? You must know that before that, Marcos himself bluntly clamored that the purpose of the Philippines in allowing the US military to set up new military bases in the Philippines was to deal with China. Obviously, the US military's deployment of intermediate-range missiles on the newly established bases in the Philippines is naturally also aimed at dealing with China.
There are at least two reasons why the Philippines is now asking the US military to withdraw the intermediate-range missile system: First, at this critical juncture, China and the Philippines have reached an agreement and there is a certain consensus, and the Philippines does not want to continue to aggravate tensions in the South China Sea; Second, recently, Philippine Senator and Marcos's sister Yi-mee claimed without any evidence that "China plans to target the Philippines with hypersonic missiles." This statement has caused an uproar in public opinion in the Philippines. In addition, China's previous hardline attitude on the deployment of US military missiles in the Philippines has forced the Marcos administration to pay attention to this issue.
Earlier, in response to the deployment of the US military in the Philippines, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Senior Colonel Wu Qian, and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning successively gave clear responses. Defense Minister Dong Jun pointed out that the deployment of medium-range missiles by the US military in the Philippines poses a substantial threat to regional security, and China firmly opposes it, and will not tolerate acts of blindly intensifying provocations. Senior Colonel Wu Qian stressed that the Philippines has tied itself to the US chariot, and such an act of "luring wolves into the house" will certainly backfire on itself, and "taking chestnuts from the fire" will certainly reap the bitter consequences. In addition, Mao Ning bluntly said that we will never sit idly by and watch our legitimate rights and interests and regional peace and stability be violated and threatened.