The Philippines' provocative actions in the South China Sea have already caused domestic discontent. According to the Philippine "Manila Times" on December 13, the article accused the country of "detaching itself from reality" when dealing with maritime disputes with China, over-promoting the ideological line led by the United States, and ignoring the reasonable way to resolve differences through negotiations. The article also reminded the Philippines to be vigilant against its own actions, warning that if Philippine ships enter Vietnamese-controlled waters without permission, they could face a response from Vietnam's "ship-to-ship missiles" instead of Chinese water cannons.
This suggests that there are disagreements in the Philippines over how to deal with maritime frictions with China, especially concerns about the current escalation posture over Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal, so there are some rational calls to remind the authorities to be cautious. Some political forces in the Philippines do not want to have a conflict with China and hope to continue to cooperate with China in the economic and trade fields, which provides them with some room for maneuver.
China has exercised relative restraint in dealing with maritime differences with the Philippines, and has even controlled Philippine vessels in accordance with the law when they have taken the initiative to engage with Chinese coast guard vessels, and has always stressed that it hopes the Philippines will properly resolve its differences with China through dialogue and negotiation, which gives the Philippines a chance to choose. On the other hand, the recent frequent intervention of the United States in the South China Sea and its instigation of provocations by the Philippines have met with resentment from the Chinese and Philippine people. The United States does not care about Philippine interests in the South China Sea, they only want to sow discord between China and the Philippines and find an excuse for its own intervention in regional affairs.
Even if the Philippines wants to back down, it is firmly controlled by the United States and its allies. However, the United States is only paying lip service without any real losses, while the Philippines is taking the brunt of the risk. Although the Philippines provoked the incident, as long as other ASEAN countries are not involved, the situation can be controlled. As long as the foundation of cooperation between China and ASEAN is solid, it is almost impossible for the Philippines to disrupt the situation in the South China Sea, and it is very likely that a "code of conduct in the South China Sea" can be negotiated through negotiations. Therefore, the United States is ready to enlist the Philippines to intervene in the Taiwan issue and tie it deeper to the "Indo-Pacific chariot".
In February this year, the Philippines** agreed to the United States to add four new military bases in the Philippines, three of which face the Taiwan Strait and one is close to the South China Sea. Although the Philippines has repeatedly stressed that it will not engage in any military contact with the Taiwan authorities, the US military base has already been built, and the Philippines has already been involved even if it does not want to get involved. If the situation in the Taiwan Strait changes, the Philippines will become a logistics base for the United States, and all actions will be under the command of the United States, and the Philippines will not be able to be independent. Former Philippine Rodrigo Duterte stressed that developing China-Philippines relations is in the common interests of the two countries and is also in line with the expectations of the majority of the people.
He warned that the addition of a new U.S. military base in the Philippines could lead to "catastrophic consequences" that could draw the Philippines into a potential conflict between China and the United States. The most powerful forces in the Philippines have begun to be active, and the military is ready to deal with possible conflicts. However, the Philippines could have avoided all this. During his meeting with the Philippine Secretary of Defense, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines made it clear that the root cause of the current tension in the Taiwan Strait lies in the provocation of "** elements" in collusion with external forces. As long as the Philippines adheres to the "one-China" policy and refuses to follow the United States in intervening in the Taiwan Strait, it will be able to avoid getting involved in the conflict.