The U.S. military withdrew its commitment to send troops to escort ships for the Philippines, and the Philippines is ready to go to China alone? The U.S. Indo-Pacific commander made a phone call to the PLA, what did the Chinese and U.S. militaries talk about?
Recently, the press secretary of the United States Ministry of Defense denied the statement of US Indo-Pacific Commander Paparo that US ships would be sent to escort Philippine replenishment ships, and said that United States would "provide important advisory support." In other words, the U.S. military will not send troops to help the Philippines, but it will continue to encourage the Philippines to fight with China. The Philippines did not wait for the US military to come, and turned around and issued a challenge to China. The Philippine military clamored that it would not allow the Chinese to clear the reef and threatened that the Chinese forced tugboat would be counterattacked by the Philippine army. At a sensitive moment, Paparo made a phone call to the PLA.
The Ministry of Defense issued a notice that according to the consensus reached at the San Francisco meeting between the Chinese and US heads of state, on the morning of September 10, Wu Yanan, commander of the Southern Theater of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, held a video call with Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Headquarters, and the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern.
Although this press release has few words, it reveals at least two important information. First of all, the current phone call between the leaders of the Chinese and US theaters is to implement the consensus reached at the San Francisco meeting between the Chinese and US heads of state and prevent miscalculations between the two militaries. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's "area of responsibility" covers much of the Pacific and India Oceans, and the PLA's Southern Theater jurisdiction includes the South China Sea. In recent years, the U.S. military has significantly increased its operational readiness in the South China Sea, deploying not only submarines and bombers, but also accelerating the deployment of drones and unmanned boats. In addition, the frequency of military exercises has also increased significantly, and allies in the South China Sea and outside the region have basically held military exercises with United States, the most typical example of which is Japan and the Philippines, which basically have to conduct exercises with the US military in the South China Sea for a few days every once in a while. Against this backdrop, the PLA has also stepped up its training in the South China Sea. Some media have pointed out that the situation in the South China Sea has been more dangerous than that in the Taiwan Strait in the past two years. The phone call between the leaders of the Chinese and US theaters will help further effectively manage differences and prevent front-line troops from misfire.
Second, the Chinese side mentioned in the circular that "the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern", which translates to the phrase "you say yours, I say mine", and both sides expressed their respective positions, but did not reach a consensus. It can be seen from this that although both China and the United States have consciously avoided the two militaries from misfire, the US military has obviously not given up the dangerous idea of disrupting the South China Sea. Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao revealed that Paparo accused the PLA of so-called "insecure interactions" with United States allies during the call, and "urged the PLA to reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive and potentially escalating tactics in the South China Sea and beyond." Although the Singapore media did not say what the so-called "insecure interaction" between the PLA and United States allies was, and who the United States allies were referring to, it is very likely that the US allies were talking about the Philippines, and "unsafe interactions" referred to Philippine planes running into the South China Sea to provoke China's sovereignty, and were warned by PLA fighters at least three times. Paparo's remarks not only put the "black cauldron" on China's head that caused tensions in the South China Sea, but also cleaned up the Philippines and the U.S. military.
In fact, the current tension in the South China Sea is mainly due to the repeated backtracking and continuous infringement and provocation by the Philippines, and the United States, the driving force behind it, has been encouraging the Marcos government to confront China. On the one hand, it has strengthened the pace of military training in the South China Sea, and on the other hand, it has actively negotiated with ASEAN countries to promote the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and the final outcome of the South China Sea will be a sea of peace and cooperation.