Looking back at history, it is not difficult to find that the Philippines has coveted the South China Sea Zhudao for a long time and has already reaped considerable energy benefits. The Philippines became independent as early as 1946, earlier than the establishment of New China, however, the once backward Philippines is still backward, more than 60% of the country's population still lives in rural areas, and the per capita income is only 29% of China's, even in Southeast Asia, it is also backward. In the 70s of the 20th century, the South China Sea was explored for rich oil reserves. At this point, Southeast Asian countries that once recognized China's sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao began to frantically invade and occupy China's Nansha Islands, including Vietnam and the Philippines.
On the one hand, the PLA lacked the naval and air force equipment necessary for operations in the far seas, and during this period, Vietnam, the Philippines, and other countries were not inferior in equipment to China, and even had a slight advantage. On the other hand, in order to avoid the negative impact of the war on economic development, the leaders of the older generation have made an important decision to "shelve disputes and jointly develop", hoping to jointly develop the disputed islands and their nearby waters with the Philippines, Vietnam and other South China Sea claimants.
However, the Philippines and other countries continued to go their own way, insisting on going their own way, and as of 1999, they falsely claimed that they had run aground and deliberately beached Ren'ai Jiao, and the Philippines had occupied a total of nine islands and reefs (sandbanks), including Mahuan, Feixin, Zhongye, Nankey, Beizi, Xiyue, Commander, Shuanghuang, and Renai.
The Philippines has also been promoting poaching activities in the region for a long time. In 1966, the Philippines cooperated with Western oil companies to begin oil and gas exploration in Nansha. In 1974, the Philippines leased the Nansha Lile Bank to the Swedish Oil Company for exploration and development, and a total of 37 wells were drilled, seven of which were located within China's nine-dash line. In 1979, the Philippines began commercial production of oil in the South China Sea. In 2003, the Philippines launched a round of tenders for oil development in the South China Sea, attracting many international companies, with nearly 100,000 square kilometers of the tender area within China's nine-dash line. The Philippines has extracted 1 million tons of oil annually in the South China Sea, with a daily production of nearly 20,000 tons.
2 embarrassed for the traitor, for the tiger.
In addition to illegally drilling a series of oil wells in the South China Sea, the Philippines also has a "museum navy" full of age.
As we all know, the Philippines has deep ties with the United States, having been a colony of the United States for nearly half a century. After independence in 1946, the Philippine army still uses American weapons, because of the shyness in the pocket, especially fond of American second-hand goods, until today, although a small number of modern ** purchased, but the main force of the Philippine Navy is still the old antiques of World War II - such as the "Raja Humabang" frigate, which can be called a "legend": the ship is a Cannon-class frigate built by the United States during World War II;On June 14, 1955, the U.S. military handed it over to Japan, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force used it until 1975;In 1978 the ship was handed over to the Philippines. In 1979, it was towed to South Korea for overhaul and modernization. In 1980 it served again in the Philippines. The maximum speed of the ship is not even as good as that of modern merchant ships, and its endurance is not as good as that of some missile boats. All of them are standard for the US Navy in World War II, and the firepower is not enough to participate in modern naval warfare. Without the cooperation of modern ships and their anti-submarine **, they could not even deal with the submarines of the 50s of the last century.
It is worth noting that the "Sierra Madre Landing Ship" that the Philippines illegally beached on Ren'ai Jiao also belongs to this kind of old antiques, so they urgently asked to go to the broken ship to repair the holes, for fear of leakage after the rust, and without waiting for us to attack, they directly sank into the South China Sea and said goodbye to the Chinese coast guard.
The Philippine Navy knew that it was far inferior to the navies of other countries, so it also reorganized its armaments, receiving a batch of retired coast guard ships from the United States during the Aquino period, and buying a batch of "BrahMos" supersonic anti-ship missiles jointly produced by Russia and India from India during the Duterte period, but these are still a drop in the bucket.
As for the Philippine Air Force, it is really an "air" force. After the last jet fighter was retired in 2005, the Philippine Air Force was left with only Tucano propeller aircraft, and it was not until Manila purchased some U.S. and South Korean trainer planes that it regained its jet fighter. However, these aircraft are simply a tangle to China, which has third- or even fourth-generation aircraft, and have no chance of winning, and their combat capabilities are barely comparable to the early jet fighters of the 50s and 60s of the last century.
So, with such a "museum navy" and "air force" army, how dare the Philippines so rampantly occupy islands and reefs, steal oil and even confront the SINO coast guard in the South China Sea?
The answer lies in the United States, the suzerainty behind the Philippines. Although the U.S. military now has no permanent troops in the Philippines, the two countries still renewed the U.S.-Philippines mutual defense treaty, and the White House** also said that if the Philippines is attacked in the South China Sea, they will activate the mutual defense clause to protect Manila. In addition, incidents of US military trespassing into China's territorial waters under the banner of "freedom of navigation" are very frequent, which has invisibly boosted the "determination" and "will" of the Philippines and other countries to invade and occupy China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Moreover, as the activities of the Philippines have become more and more rampant, and the US military has also dispatched reconnaissance planes and other armed forces to approach and invade China's airspace and territorial waters.
Since Obama put forward the "Asia-Pacific rebalance" strategy, the United States has been in office, although the parties are different, but almost consistently, insisting on promoting the Far East strategy with the fundamental goal of containing China's development and rise, from Trump's "Indo-Pacific strategy" to Biden's strengthened "United States, Japan, India and Australia quadrilateral mechanism", the strategic position of the South China Sea has become more and more important. Relying on the first and second island chains built during the Cold War, the United States intends to activate the long-dormant alliance system of the United States-Japan, the United States-South Korea, and the United States-Philippines in a number of mutual defense treaties to realize its strategic intention of encircling China.
During Duterte's tenure as the Philippines, Manila struck a balance between China and the United States, while Marcos Jr., who had just taken office, began to make a "return movement" to the United States after reaping the economic dividends we had given, contributing to the U.S. "Indo-Pacific strategy" in an attempt to gain a lot of benefits from the United States and consolidate his vested interests in the islands and reefs occupied in the South China Sea.
However, China has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, including Ren'ai Jiao, and its adjacent waters. Do not underestimate the strong determination, firm will, and strong ability of the Chinese people to defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity. The China Coast Guard and the Chinese People's Liberation Army will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. The Philippines should see clearly its own strength, and even more so, it should clearly see the essence of the United States tying Manila to the anti-China station train and speeding without regard for the interests and actual feelings of the Philippines, a "tire," and not let its "chess piece" become an "outcast."