On the South China Sea issue, China issued a warning of "pulling back from the precipice", and Marcos Jr. immediately stopped further actions, saying that the South China Sea issue should be resolved by the parties concerned without US intervention. However, the US side is not willing to stop there. A US ** ship secretly came to the South China Sea and stayed for half a month, and this ship was a marine monitoring ship of the US military. According to open source intelligence, in early December last year, a Shengli-class marine monitoring ship named "Capability" entered the waters of the South China Sea and carried out intensive operations in the waters north of the South China Sea and the Nansha Islands. These two areas are mainly the waters that US submarines may pass through when entering the South China Sea from key straits. The U.S. side did not disclose anything about the ship's specific activities and departure time, only some online rumors that the ship had previously appeared near Japan.
This ship is not an ordinary vessel, it is part of the Special Mission Support Division of the U.S. Navy Command, and the crew on board is mostly scientific researchers, mainly responsible for providing specialized maritime services to support the national defense needs of the United States and its allies. In addition, the monitoring vessels used by this unit are often equipped with advanced sensors and communications equipment to monitor and obtain intelligence on maritime activities. Therefore, it can be inferred that the US ship must have a "special mission" when it entered the South China Sea. One of the special tasks is to survey the terrain of the South China Sea. For the United States today, if it wants to fight China in the South China Sea, there are already a number of obvious disadvantages within the first island chain, including missiles and surface ships. The only thing that is likely to win over China is probably nuclear submarines. In order to expand its advantage, the United States must understand the terrain in advance and be fully prepared in the South China Sea. The Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarine USS San Francisco of the US Navy suffered heavy losses due to its unfamiliarity with the terrain of the South China Sea.
The topography of the South China Sea is extremely complex, with wide continental shelves along the northern and western coasts, while the eastern and southern continental shelves are relatively narrow, with steep continental slopes and multiple deep-sea basins surrounded by seamounts, coral reefs and trenches. In 2005, the Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarine USS San Francisco rammed a submarine seamount while on a mission in the South China Sea, causing serious damage and personnel**. The accident has attracted the attention of the United States, which has stepped up efforts to map the terrain of the South China Sea and update chart data, and the US Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have jointly used multi-beam sonar technology to conduct deep-sea topographic surveys to correct and improve chart information. In addition, submarine cables will also be crucial in future operations, so the U.S. operation is also expected to focus on probing China's progress in submarine cable construction. Satellite communications have played an important role in the development of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but submarine fiber optic cables are thousands of times faster than satellites, so they will become even more important in future military operations.
According to reports, the construction of submarine fiber optic cables will play a key role in the future world, because mastering submarine fiber optic cables means having first-hand global information. China is not only advancing the Belt and Road Initiative on land, but also the "Great Wall of the Sea Plan", that is, the construction of submarine fiber optic cables, under the sea. As of 2019, Chinese companies have completed the construction of the "Peace Submarine Fiber Optic Cable System" in cooperation with international partners, which connects Pakistan, the east coast of Africa and Marseille, France, and plans to extend to China and Southeast Asia. In addition, China has also participated in regional submarine fiber optic cable projects in the Asia-Pacific region, such as the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 fiber optic cable and the new Eurasian land bridge fiber optic cable, strengthening the data connection between the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. With the development of technology and the growth of global communication needs, China is constantly promoting the construction and upgrading of submarine fiber optic cables. However, the exact extent of China's construction is not known at present. Some observers have speculated that Australia** may have recently sent divers to the bottom of the ocean to obtain information on the progress of China's submarine fiber optic cable construction.
The monitoring ship on the American side is expected to have a similar purpose. These actions show that the United States has always harbored the intention of a war, but no matter how the United States deploys, China is fully prepared for the eventuality. The international community is divided on whether the United States should intervene in the South China Sea, but the provocative actions of the United States will only increase its own security risks in the end.