A number of US allies have recently begun to act aggressively in South and Southeast Asia, causing concern. The first to make a splash is the Philippines, which has been in the spotlight lately. Over the weekend, the Philippine military sent four ships to try to break through the Chinese coast guard blockade to deliver engineering materials to Second Thomas Shoal, only to be strongly blocked by the Chinese side. Engineering materials failed to arrive, and the Philippine ship was bombarded by the Chinese coast guard's water cannons. After provoking China, the United States and Japan and other countries outside the region followed suit, seemingly intent on heating up the South China Sea issue and causing trouble for China.
White House adviser Jake Sullivan revealed that the United States has held a "joint call" with Japan and the Philippines on the situation in the South China Sea, and stressed that the United States will continue to fulfill its "security commitments" to its allies. At the same time, India has used the South China Sea issue as a "springboard" to trumpet military cooperation between the Philippines and India, and has sent a naval frigate on a "goodwill visit" to Manila. In addition, India and the United States have launched the "King Kong Thunder 2023" joint military exercise in the eastern Indian state of Meghalaya Xi. The Indian Ministry of Defense claimed that the exercise Xi help improve operational compatibility and strengthen the cooperative combat capability of the Indian and US teams.
India's Supreme Court also issued a ruling confirming the validity of Modi's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 and recognizing the legitimacy of the so-called "Ladakh** Territory" established by the BJP. This means that in the future, the BJP** may not only deprive the region of the high degree of autonomy it currently enjoys, but may even take military action. However, China and Pakistan must express their displeasure at such unilateral actions by India.
China has clearly pointed out that China has never recognized the so-called "Ladakh ** Territory" unilaterally and illegally established by India, and India's domestic judicial rulings cannot change the objective fact that the western section of the China-India border has always belonged to China. As a result, India's Supreme Court's ruling is at best a rhetorical bargain that is an obstacle to the Arab world and China. Overall, Modi appears to be taking the opportunity to echo the actions of the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea in an attempt to further stoke tensions over China's border. Obviously, the United States is mired in war and cannot extricate itself, and it does not want to see China live and work in peace and contentment.
China is not "aggrieved," but the United States, India, and the Philippines, as well as the countries they support, are anxious. The root cause of their frequent "death-throping" posture is their fear that China will completely block off their strategic space. The Philippines' provocative behavior in the South China Sea has all but led to its exclusion from ASEAN. ASEAN has made it clear that the South China Sea issue should be resolved by the countries in the region on their own, and has accelerated the implementation of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. At the same time, Sino-Vietnamese relations are getting closer and closer. For the United States, in addition to external challenges, it also needs to deal with internal problems as it approaches.
On December 13, the U.S. House of Representatives officially launched an investigation into Biden, which put the Democratic Party in a headache. In this case, the Philippines became a victim of the United States, repeating the 2016 script and was doomed to suffer. It can be said that while the United States is distracting from other issues, China has seized the strategic opportunity and successfully consolidated its influence in the region. Therefore, no matter how much countries such as the Philippines and India struggle, they are destined to be short-lived passers-by and not last long.