On December 9, friction between Lubin and China in the South China Sea continued to heat up. The Chinese Coast Guard released a message saying that China's coast guard has taken control measures against three Philippine official vessels in accordance with the law near Huangyan Island. According to the Philippines' unilateral statement, the official ship was to "deliver fuel and food" to the fishermen, but was stopped by the Chinese side. Judging from the ** footage released by the Philippine side, the Chinese coast guard ship used high-pressure water cannons on the Philippine vessel when taking control measures, and the Philippine side claimed that one of the ships was seriously damaged.
Regarding the friction between China and the Philippines that broke out at Scarborough Shoal that day, the Chinese side did not give a detailed report. However, judging from the words disclosed by the two sides, the Philippine side may try to forcibly enter the waters of Scarborough Shoal this time, and try to repeat its old tricks in Scarborough Shoal by illegally "beaching" at Ren'ai Jiao, so as to compete for control of Scarborough Shoal. Obviously, the Chinese side is bound to carry out real-time monitoring, warning and deterrence of the Philippine vessel. However, due to the refusal of the Philippine ship to China's control, and even took the initiative to collide, the Chinese side was forced to have to.
The artillery is controlled and the high-pressure water column is used to drive away Philippine ships to safeguard national sovereignty and security interests.
It should be emphasized that Scarborough Shoal has been an inalienable part of China's territory since ancient times. The Philippines claims that Scarborough Shoal is part of Philippine territory because it is located 125 nautical miles from Luzon Island, nearly 1,000 nautical miles from Chinese mainland and 600 nautical miles from Hainan Island, so the Philippines has "sovereignty" over Scarborough Shoal. From the map, Scarborough Shoal is indeed very close to the Philippines. However, in international law, proximity cannot be used as a basis for the acquisition of territorial sovereignty. For example, Greece has more than 350 islands in the Aegean Sea, some of which are located off the coast of Turkey, the closest being less than 1 nautical mile, but it does not belong to Turkey because of its proximity. In fact, a series of international documents, such as the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Spain, the Treaty of Washington and the United Kingdom and the United States, clearly stipulate the territorial boundaries of the Philippines, and Scarborough Shoal is not within its territorial sovereignty.
On October 18, 1994, the Philippine Department of Maps and Resources Information issued a document to the American Amateur Radio Association, which also affirmed that "the sovereignty of the Philippine territorial boundary is stipulated in paragraph 3 of the Treaty of Western Paris, and Scarborough Shoal is located outside the territorial boundary of the Philippines". It wasn't until 1997 that the Philippines suddenly claimed sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal, more than 60 years after China first asserted sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal. There is no doubt that China has indisputable sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal, but the Philippines is trying to turn Scarborough Shoal, which has no territorial sovereignty dispute, into a disputed island by picking quarrels and provoking trouble. However, China not only has sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal, but also firmly controls the actual control of Scarborough Shoal. However, on the South China Sea issue, China has always exercised a high degree of restraint and hopes to resolve the maritime rights and interests dispute between China and the Philippines through peaceful means.
However, relying on the high-profile and supportive posture of the United States, the Philippine side not only launched provocative actions at Scarborough Shoal on many occasions, but even put on a posture of not crying without seeing a coffin, kicking its nose in the face, and sending ships to forcibly enter the relevant waters, and the Chinese side had to use coercive means to drive them away. However, as soon as China used "artillery" control at Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine side changed places to provoke. On December 10, a Philippine transport and supply vessel, under the cover of two coast guard vessels and official vessels, attempted to forcibly enter Ren'ai Jiao and deliver reinforcement and maintenance materials to **, which was illegally "beached" here. Ignoring repeated warnings from the Chinese side, one of the Philippine vessels suddenly turned and accelerated into the Chinese law enforcement vessel. It is reported that at that time, the Philippines also dispatched fishing boats and invited Western ** to report, trying to stir up the South China Sea issue and create reasons and excuses for the United States to intervene in South China Sea affairs.
In fact, since the Philippine Marcos Jr.'s visit to the United States, the frequency of Philippine provocations at Scarborough Shoal and Ren'ai Jiao has increased significantly, and even though it knows that it cannot break through China's defense line, it still deliberately creates friction again and again, and even takes the initiative to ram Chinese ships, with the aim of muddying the situation in the South China Sea, complicating, internationalizing and militarizing the South China Sea issue. However, the Philippines' provocations have left it in an awkward position of isolation. Although Biden promised Marcos Jr. in person that the United States will continue to unswervingly defend the Philippines, including supporting the Philippines in providing repair and reinforcement materials to the landing ship "beached" at Ren'ai Jiao, and the U.S. military will provide assistance and protection for its operations. However, when the Philippine vessel illegally intruded into Ren'ai Jiao and was taught a lesson by the Chinese side, the US side watched the fire from the other side and did not take any substantive action.
At present, the Sierra Madre, which the Philippines is illegally "beaching" on Ren'ai Jiao, is already in dilapidation, so it is necessary to regularly transport reinforcement and repair materials, and if the Sierra Madre is not repaired and reinforced in a timely manner, once it disintegrates, the Philippine soldiers will lose the reason and excuse to be stationed. Judging from the Philippine side's reaction, it is estimated that this old landing ship may not last long. Therefore, the Philippine side will continue to rush into Ren'ai Jiao. In fact, this time the Chinese side has exercised considerable restraint in defending its rights with water cannons, and if the Philippine side continues to violate China's red line, then the possibility of China using artillery to "wait" cannot be ruled out. Therefore, the Philippines should not think that with the United States behind its instigation, it can go wild and do whatever it wants, otherwise it will inevitably pay a heavy price.