Recently, the Philippines has frequently provoked China in the waters near Scarborough Shoal, not only claiming to have dismantled the buoys set up by the Chinese side, but also sending planes to fly over the Chinese coast guard ship at a low altitude, which is extremely arrogant. China responded solemnly, saying that it would resolutely safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and urged the Philippines to stop stirring up trouble. Why is the Philippines so bold?How will China respond?
The Philippines has always been a restless player in the South China Sea. Eleven years ago, the Philippines created the "Scarborough Shoal Incident", which led to a confrontation between the Chinese and US navies in the South China Sea. As a result, the Philippines' provocative actions allowed China to regain de facto control of Scarborough Shoal, and from then on, the dominance of the situation in the South China Sea was in China's hands. The Philippines should have learned its lesson, but it did not relent, and after many years, it was on Scarborough Shoal again**.
On September 22, a Philippine fishery administration ship with more than 50 Philippine fishing boats attempted to force its way into the waters of Scarborough Shoal. Chinese coast guard vessels dispatched the Philippine vessels in time to drive away the Philippine vessels and set up 300-meter-long buoys around Scarborough Shoal. However, the Philippines did not repent, and on the 26th, the Philippine Coast Guard announced that they had forcibly dismantled the Chinese buoy in accordance with the instructions of Marcos Marcos. The Philippines also issued a statement accusing China of "violating international law" and threatening to take all "necessary actions" to dismantle China's facilities at Scarborough Shoal. The attitude of the Philippines can be said to be extremely arrogant.
On the 27th, the Philippines even dispatched a business jet to provoke the Chinese coast guard vessel. According to the Philippine **release**, the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) sent a Cessna small plane to approach the Chinese Coast Guard 3105 and other vessels at an ultra-low altitude, and finally flew directly past. This kind of behavior of the Philippines is full of provocation. As we all know, it is very dangerous for aircraft to fly at low altitudes, and in the event of a collision, not only the Philippine side will suffer heavy losses, but also the Chinese coast guard ships and personnel will also be harmed, leading to further escalation of the dispute between China and the Philippines.
In my opinion, the Philippines' series of actions show that Marcos Marcos wants to confront China on the South China Sea issue. Moreover, judging from the actions of the Philippine side, it is clear that they want to provoke the Chinese side and further tense the situation. First of all, whether it is Ren'ai Jiao or Scarborough Shoal, Philippine official ships will carry a number of Western reporters in order to film the Chinese coast guard ship "bullying Philippine vessels". In order to achieve this effect, Philippine official ships even provided Philippine fishing boats with 60,000 liters of diesel fuel and some sundries free of charge to encourage them to ram Chinese coast guard vessels.
Second, after the dispute broke out, the Philippines completely ignored the facts, wantonly created pressure, portrayed itself as a "victim", and frantically accused China of "acting rudely" and "violating international law".
Third, in the previous Ren'ai Jiao dispute, Marcos realized that the hype of the situation would "go overboard" and increase the risk of conflict between the Philippines and China, so he came up with a "new approach", ordering the Philippine military not to interfere in the affairs of the South China Sea, but to let the Philippine fishery administration department and the coast guard department come forward and lead a number of Philippine fishing boats to stir up trouble on China's islands and reefs, in an attempt to weaken China's actual control over the South China Sea in this way.
It must be pointed out that China has always exercised restraint in dealing with the Philippines for the sake of stability in the South China Sea. However, the Philippines has used force against Chinese civilians in the waters off Scarborough Shoal. In 1999, the Philippine Navy's ** chased a Chinese fishing boat, and even used machine gun fire, and finally sank the fishing boat, and the fishermen on board were illegally detained for many days. The Philippine side turned a deaf ear to China's demand for compensation and compensation. It is worth noting that the Philippines wanted to stranded ** on Scarborough Shoal back then, imitating the situation of Ren'ai Jiao, but it was unsuccessful. In 2005, the Philippine military killed the captain of a Chinese fishing boat, which shows that the Philippines has committed countless crimes against China in the South China Sea.
Now, China's overall strength is very strong, and the size of coast guard ships is second only to the United States. The Philippines is afraid of China's great power, and has begun to pretend to be a "victim" and sell miserably. However, China will not be fooled by Marcos's ploy at all. Chinese spokesman Wang Wenbin made it clear that China will continue to firmly safeguard the territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests of Scarborough Shoal, and urged the Philippines to stop provoking trouble.
In conclusion, I would like to say that from the words and deeds of the Philippines, it can be seen that blindly tolerating the South China Sea issue will not lead to an ideal result. Any concession on the sovereignty issue will only make the other side think that it is "weak and can be bullied", and even make them even more brazen in their provocations and deliberately create bad consequences. Therefore, on the South China Sea issue, China will no longer tolerate it. In the last Scarborough Shoal dispute, China directly regained de facto control of the islands and reefs and took the lead in the situation in the South China Sea. This time, China needs to consider solving the problem once and for all. ** The spokesman's words are an ultimatum to the Philippines. Previously, the Chinese navy carried out large-scale interspersed detours in Asia-Pacific waters, successfully disrupting U.S. plans to hold large-scale military exercises in the Yellow Sea. Now, China also needs to demonstrate its military strength in the South China Sea and completely dispel the idea of the Philippines using the power of the United States to provoke. If necessary, China can take tougher measures and let the Philippines know the consequences!