The Philippines joins forces with the United States and AustraliaThe South China Sea region is engaged in joint sea and air patrolsHe even deliberately touched China, including China's normal patrol planes in the camera, and shouted that China was tracking the Philippines and that the Chinese Navy would trap the Philippines like a siege and flying around Japan.
The first was the U.S.-Philippine cruise, when China appeared near the South China Sea with only a 054A frigate and a Y-9 reconnaissance aircraft.
There is one thing to say,The Philippines brought the US Navy and Air Force into the South China Sea, and China did not intercept it, but only sent patrol ships and planes to conduct long-range surveillance. After watching the flight filmed in the Philippines, many military experts expressed their doubts, how did the Philippine military think that China was going to attack the Philippines?Your home flew around and blockaded only one reconnaissance plane?
What's more, the Philippines is sending military vehicles through China's waters, and it is also an international practice for China to mobilize nearby patrol forces to conduct tracking and surveillance, which is in line with international law, and China's tracking and surveillance behavior is professional, safe and harmless.
Then there is the Australia-Philippines cruise of Australia and the Philippines, which is also the first time that the two countries have conducted a joint cruise in the South China Sea This time tracking the Philippines are 2 PLA fighter jets, even so our country has shown great restraint,In the words of the Philippines, the two fighter jets simply flew around the Philippine military plane, during which "nothing unpleasant happened."
Some people may feel quite aggrieved, the Philippines has provoked China's doorstep, why doesn't China shoot them down directly, or make some more radical responses?
I think the main reason is that it's not necessary.
The so-called military is a continuation of politics, and military should be a means rather than an end, and China's strategy toward the Philippines is to completely isolate the Philippines from Southeast AsiaIn fact, we have now completed this plan.
There are a total of 10 countries in Southeast Asia, known as the 10 ASEAN countries, and among the 10 ASEAN countries, except for Myanmar, which is in a civil war and cannot conduct diplomacyThe remaining eight countries basically don't play with the Philippines
These countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Among them, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos are firmly on the side of China, and when Japan and the United States tried to win over the anti-China encirclement network in Southeast Asia, except for Laos, the remaining five countries expressed their support for China by participating in the "Peace and Friendship-2023" multinational maritime joint exercise Xi held with China, and Laos did not have a navy, so it could not participate.
Then there are the two countries of Indonesia and Singapore, although these two countries are not on the side of China, but they are on the side of money and non-war, taking a neutral line, and everything is prioritized in the national interest.
When the Philippines provoked China to win over Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong publicly raised such a question in **: Is the Philippines ready to go to war with China?
In fact, the United States does have many allies in ASEAN, and there is really no second one like the Philippines. Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore are all traditional allies of the United States, especially Singapore, which is one of the beneficiaries of the U.S. F35 fighter program. But in the face of the fact that the Americans want to meddle in Asian affairsThey're showing a lot of solidarity, and that's that we're using the U.S. to contain China, but we're not going to let the Americans control Southeast Asia
Now their attitude is that whoever vainly tries to interfere in the internal affairs of Southeast Asia, and whoever vainly tries to provoke a war in Southeast Asia and shoots the first shot, they will support the other side.
Now it is obvious that China is exercising restraint and the Americans have been provoking, so eight of the ten ASEAN countries are relatively inclined to China.
At present, the ASEAN countries basically bypass the Philippines as much as possible in international conferences, military cooperation and other issues, and do not let him get involved, because the Philippines' act of allowing U.S. troops to be stationed is a clear violation of ASEAN's diplomatic principles. Even when the United States drove its navy into Southeast Asia, ASEAN countries were willing to organize joint military exercises with China and express their dissatisfaction to the United States in this way.
On the contrary, if China really fires the first shot at the Philippines, then the attitude of the entire ASEAN Association may change from leaning towards us to leaning towards the United States, so that the Chinese encirclement network in Southeast Asia that Japan and the United States dream of may become a reality.
Destroying an enemy sometimes doesn't require a complete physical annihilationAs long as we can disarm and threaten the other side, reduce our enemies, and increase our friends, then any means can be used.
Although the current Philippines seems to be relying on the strength of the United States to provoke China every day, as if it is very powerful, but at the diplomatic level, especially at the diplomatic level in Southeast Asia, they have already lost nothing. Not only is it at odds with China, but even ASEAN itself does not want to see it, as for the United States, Japan, and Australia, which are bent on hugging their thighsIt's just using the Philippines as cannon fodder。The Philippines has managed to isolate itself from the political environment in Asia through its actions.