In recent times, the Philippines has been engaged in frequent activities in the South China Sea, which have continued to attract attention and try to maintain the attention of the South China Sea disputes.
The most recent incident occurred on Sunday, December 10, when the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Admiral Romeo Saturnino Brauner, Jr., and Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos of the Western Military Region Command, led a fleet, including an official vessel, two coast guard vessels, and a replenishment vessel, illegally entered the waters off Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.
Obstructed by water cannons with the Chinese Coast Guard, they forcibly boarded the abandoned "Sierra Madre" illegally stranded and sent supplies to it, further hyping up the incident.
Looking back, on May 9, 1999, the third day of the US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Philippine Navy dispatched the USS Sierra Madre, a US-built landing ship built during World War II, to illegally run aground on Ren'ai Jiao in China's Nansha Islands under the pretext of claiming that it had run aground due to "mechanical failure."
Compared to countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines has a relatively weak navy. At that time, in addition to two or three landing ships, they had only two American World War II minesweepers, which were used only as gunboats. This has also led them to resort to this "stranding" to maintain their presence in the South China Sea.
After the Chinese side negotiated and **, the Philippines had said that it would eventually tow away the abandoned ship. However, they persisted for up to 24 years on the grounds of "grounding for ship repairs". The Philippine ship is home to sailors who live in very poor conditions and suffer from life.
A gentlemen's agreement was reached between China and the Philippines to allow the Philippines to provide crew supplies to the illegally stranded landing ship "Sierra Madre", but only to notify the Chinese side in advance and not to carry construction supplies.
After 24 years of wave erosion, the Philippine ** has illegally "stranded" on Ren'ai Jiao, and now it is dilapidated and facing a state of rapid disintegration. Since the beginning of this year, the Philippine side has broken the previous consensus, no longer consulted with the Chinese side, and carried out a series of actions without authorization, including secretly carrying construction materials.
Philippine authorities are trying to repair the rusty hull and plan to build permanent facilities on it, such as solar panels, generators, accommodation facilities, and even some military installations, in an attempt to "hold on" to the area. These moves were aimed at delaying the complete disintegration of the broken ship.
These actions became the direct trigger for the recent conflict between China and the Philippines over Ren'ai Jiao. However, the deeper reason lies in the fact that the Philippines has gradually moved closer to the United States since Marcos Jr. came to power, and has taken a provocative attitude towards China, and even tried to intervene in the Taiwan issue.
Since Marcos Jr. took office, he has repeatedly stressed that "we are only 400 kilometers away from Taiwan" and claimed that the security of the Taiwan Strait is closely related to the Philippines. In February, he even added four new military bases in the Philippines, increasing the number of U.S. military garrisons from five to nine.
The new bases are located on the island of Luzon, near Taiwan, and Palawan, near the South China Sea. This suggests that the Philippines opened these new bases with the intention of joining the situation in Taiwan so that the United States can provide support from the Philippines if necessary. This kind of move can be said to be very bold.
Marcos Jr. has also aggressively said that he has made private contacts with Vietnam and other countries in an attempt to bypass China and develop a new "code of conduct in the South China Sea." In addition, the Philippines has jointly carried out a number of high-profile patrols in the South China Sea with the United States and Australia.
The Philippine military top brass even announced that it plans to invite more countries to conduct joint patrols in the South China Sea next year. Obviously, Marcos Jr. is trying to force China to make compromises and concessions through this "crowd pressure" method.
The Philippine side revealed some specific details about their actions: the flotilla of supplies consisted of four ships, the so-called "West Philippine Sea States Working Group" totaled about a few dozen people, and dozens of Filipino fishing boats came to watch.
In the early morning of December 10, the Philippine fleet illegally intruded into the waters of Second Thomas Shoal and tried to get close to a ship that was illegally "stranded" there. The Chinese Coast Guard used water cannons and other control measures to intercept Philippine vessels.
The water cannons caused serious damage, affecting the structure and communication and navigation equipment of the Philippine vessels. China is also said to have used powerful sonic devices that can affect hearing, causing some Filipino crew members to feel severely unwell and incapacitated.
At 6:39 a.m., the Philippine boat Yunaza May1 deliberately scraped with the Chinese Coast Guard 21556 boat in an unprofessional and dangerous manner.
This is already another deliberate "collision" incident between the Philippines and a Chinese coast guard vessel. On October 22, the Chinese Coast Guard stopped Philippine vessels illegally transporting construction materials to Second Thomas Shoal, and Philippine vessels deliberately collided with Chinese coast guard vessels on two occasions.
Despite the water cannon interception, the Philippine Admiral's Chief of Staff and Lieutenant General Commander chose to board the rusty and broken ship that had illegally "stranded" in the chaos. Gan Yu, a spokesman for the China Coast Guard, warned again that afternoon: "We demand that the Philippine side immediately stop its violations, strictly control provocative acts, and refrain from destroying the Great Wall." ”
The China Coast Guard will continue its law enforcement activities to safeguard national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in waters under China's jurisdiction in accordance with the law. The Philippines has been provocative in the South China Sea, ignoring repeated solemn warnings from the Chinese coast guard. However, China has a decisive advantage over the Philippines. If the conflict escalates, it will be the Philippines that will ultimately suffer.
China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, including Ren'ai Jiao, and the surrounding waters. The actions of the Philippines violate the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and their own commitments, seriously violate China's territorial sovereignty, and undermine regional peace and stability. Marcos Jr. will inevitably pay the price.