#长文创作激励计划#
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to the Asia-Pacific region was extremely busy, and after attending the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the US-Japan "2+2" meeting, and the US-Japan-India-Australia Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, Blinken rushed to the Philippines non-stop.
According to the global network, a few days ago, Blinken and United States Secretary of Defense Austin visited Manila and held "2+2" talks with the Philippines, and the two sides reached a series of major and dangerous decisions.
Not only did United States announce that it would provide the Philippines with an unprecedented $500 million in foreign military financing for the construction, development, and improvement of existing Philippine military bases, as well as the modernization of the Philippine military's coast guard, but the United States and the Philippines also decided to conclude a "Military Information Protection Agreement" by the end of the year, which will enhance information sharing between the two countries and allow United States to transfer more defense technology and intelligence to the Philippines.
At a time when the situation in the South China Sea continues to heat up, the United States's actions are obviously to embolden the Philippines, after the Philippines sent ships to trespass into the waters adjacent to Ren'ai Jiao and clashed with the Chinese Coast Guard, China and the Philippines reached a consensus on controlling the situation at Ren'ai Jiao after consultations, and the United States moved out the "U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Regulations" during the talks, reaffirming United States' "firm commitment" to the Philippines in the South China Sea.
(Marcos Jr. meets with Blinken and Austin)
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that United States is supporting the Philippines at this time, just to further use the Philippines to confront China, and ironically, United States keep supporting the Philippines, but refuse to increase investment in the Philippines in the most important economy, after the Philippine railway project lost Chinese investment, hoping that United States and Japan can take over, but so far have not received a letter of approval, at present, United States annual investment in the Philippine economy is only about 1 billion US dollars.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. not only failed to recognize the situation, but even rushed to be a tool for United States. During his meeting with Blinken and Austin, Marcos Jr. said the Philippines needed regular engagement with United States to help the Philippines "respond flexibly" to China and the maritime situation.
The reason why Marcos Jr. is willing to be manipulated by the United States has to mention the historical entanglement between the Marcos family and United States, after all, the former Philippine President Marcos Sr. fled with his United States whole family after being ousted from power, and until now, the billions of dollars of assets of the Marcos family are still in the custody of United States, and there are still unresolved lawsuits in United States. In any way, Marcos Jr. did not dare to offend United States.
However, Marcos Jr. obeyed the United States for the sake of his family's selfish interests, but what was blocked was the security of the entire country of the Philippines and peace and stability in the South China Sea, and United States strengthening military ties with the Philippines would not only not enhance the latter's "defense capability," but would undermine the comprehensive security system that the region had built up over the years.
Not long ago, in his meeting with the Philippine foreign minister, Foreign Minister Wang Yi clearly put forward two major demands: one is to demand that the Philippines abide by its commitments and not go back on the Ren'ai Jiao issue, otherwise it will be resolutely countered by China, and the other is that the United States medium-range missile system must not be deployed to the Philippines, otherwise it will lead to an arms race.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks were both a reminder and a warning, but judging from Marcos Jr.'s statement, he did not listen to it well, and thought that holding United States as a backer would make waves in the South China Sea, and the end would only be cannon fodder.