The Chinese Coast Guard recently intercepted and expelled two Philippine coast guard vessels that had trespassed into Ren'ai Jiao without permission in accordance with the law, and they were transporting supplies and illegal construction materials to the beached "Sierra Madre"**.
Despite repeated warnings, the Philippine Coast Guard has remained deaf and dumb. In this case, the Chinese Coast Guard's ship 5201 used water cannons to drive away the Philippine ship.
Will the illegal occupation of Second Thomas Shoal, and whether China reclaim it today, lead to a bitter hot war between China and the Philippines?
1. The issue of sovereignty in the South China Sea has long been the focus of China's attention. Since the beginning of the 20th century, many countries have eyed this valuable territory of the South China Sea and even used illegal means to occupy the territory of the South China Sea.
In fact, sovereignty over the South China Sea is not entirely in our hands, and the actual control of many Nansha islands and reefs is still in the hands of neighboring countries.
Vietnam occupies 29, the Philippines 8, Malaysia 6 and Brunei 1. Although Indonesia does not occupy it, it is worse than anyone else, illegally extracting oil in the South China Sea to make huge profits.
In the battle for oil and gas resources in the South China Sea, Malaysia has shown no weakness. In cooperation with Dutch Shell, Exxon and BP Petroleum of the United Kingdom, 18 oil fields and 40 gas fields have been successfully exploited in the South China Sea, making it the largest country in the South China Sea.
Every year, Malaysia produces up to 30 million tons of oil and 1500 million cubic meters. With its abundant oil and gas resources in the South China Sea, Malaysia has jumped to become the third largest energy exporter in the Asia-Pacific region and one of the top 10 oil importers in China.
Malaysia's petrol** is cheap, equivalent to about 3 yuan a liter, mainly due to the abundant oil resources in the South China Sea. Vietnam, unlike Malaysia, has been illegally encroaching on sovereignty in the South China Sea.
Not only did they change the names of the islands and reefs they occupied, but they also set up county-level administrative units.
Vietnam arbitrarily changed China's "Spratly Island" to "Changsha Island" and established "Changsha Island County" on this basis, which comprehensively administers China's 29 illegally occupied islands and reefs in the South China Sea.
There are more than 300 islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and how many do China control? Quantitatively, China controls the most islands and reefs in the South China Sea, with more than 140 in control, including nine relatively large islands, including Dongsha Island and Taiping Island, which are controlled by Taiwan Province of China.
1.The key to Taiwan's ability to easily control the Dongsha Islands lies in the fact that the Dongsha Islands are only 445 kilometers away from Taiwan Province, and Taiwan's aircraft and warships can completely cover the island.
However, Thitu Island was taken by the Philippines under the noses of the Taiwan army, because there was a typhoon on Thitu Island at that time, and the Taiwan army evacuated in order to avoid the typhoon.
2.Taiwan can easily control the Dongsha Islands because the Dongsha Islands are only 445 kilometers away from Taiwan Province, allowing Taiwan's aircraft and warships to fully cover the Dongsha Islands.
However, the loss of Thitu Island is heart-wrenching, because the Taiwan military withdrew to avoid the typhoon during the typhoon, and when they returned to Thitu Island after the typhoon, they found that the Philippines had already landed first and completed the garrison on the island.
When the Philippines relied on the United States, the Taiwan military did not dare to anger the United States, and easily "gifted" the actual control of Thitu Island to the Philippines.
China has been trying to tow away the Philippine wrecked ship that illegally encroached on Chinese waters from Second Thomas Shoal, but more than 8,800 days have passed, and it is almost impossible. However, we have adopted a new strategy of gradually strengthening our de facto control over the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, like shutting down the door and beating the dog, leaving the Philippines' wrecked ships with nowhere to escape.
The grounding in the Philippines was apparently premeditated, and it did not hesitate to rush to the reef in order to have no turning back. As a result, numerous sources show that the deep waters of Second Thomas Reef could not lift the wreck during the high tide period, making it impossible for many tugboats to pull the wreck that was clinging to the reef.
After 24 years of grounding, the Sierra Madre has become a fixed maritime outpost with a reef at the bottom of the sea. The Philippines has extensively remodeled and strengthened it to make it stronger.
The wind and sun of the years have caused the "Sierra Madre" to be seriously corroded, and if it is towed away, there is not even a force point, and the place where the tow rope is tied is afraid that it will be broken when it is pulled.
However, all this did not change the fact that the "Sierra Madre" served as a sea port outpost.
Although objective factors will also influence, the Filipino soldiers stationed on the stranded ** are an issue that we need to pay special attention to. We don't want a military conflict between China and the Philippines over this issue, because it is not in line with China's strategy in the South China Sea.
If an armed conflict does break out, the happiest person may be the United States, which is far away across the ocean. Therefore, we need to find a peaceful solution to the problem and avoid this from happening.