China's worst fears are likely to happen, and the situation in the South China Sea may change! The Philippines announced that Marcos will visit Vietnam in the near future. During this period, it is likely that the Philippines will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the Philippines has been trying to reach to cooperate with the coast guards of Vietnam. Once the Philippines and Vietnam reach a so-called defense cooperation, the situation in the South China Sea is likely to become more tense.
The Philippines has been in contact with the United States, Japan and other countries, and has reached a cooperation intention with these two countries in common defense. Because of the backing of these two countries, the Philippines dared to frequently intrude on Ren'ai Jiao this year. There have even been incidents of Philippine ships ramming Chinese coast guard ships.
Although the Philippines is becoming more and more emboldened, China has always adhered to its bottom line and made reasonable use of international law to eliminate all kinds of provocative acts by the Philippines. In the face of the conflict between the Philippines and China, the United States and Japan have not come forward too much to criticize or put pressure on China. This is a bit different from what the Philippines originally envisioned, in which the United States and Japan should stand up and jointly put pressure on China, or even suppress China by force.
But the United States and Japan are not fools, and they signed the so-called defense cooperation agreement with the Philippines only so that the Philippines can be used as a gunman, not by the Philippines. This also made the Philippines see that if it wants to achieve its own goals, it should also unite with ASEAN countries, so there is an intention for the Philippines and Vietnam to sign a coast guard cooperation. The Philippines is trying to form a "South China Sea Alliance" to threaten China.
In fact, this is something that China is very worried about. China was not too worried about the previous cooperation between the Philippines and the United States and Japan. And if an ASEAN country like Vietnam is willing to cooperate with the Philippines and join forces to intrude on China's coastline, China will be very uncomfortable.
However, fortunately, China has seen this move before. The visit of China's top leader to Vietnam will undoubtedly make Vietnam stand more firmly on China's side. In addition, China has earlier established economic and trade exchanges with Singapore, Indonesia and other countries, also in order to stabilize the situation in the South China Sea.
No matter how the Philippines jumps up and down, no matter how well Marcos can be eloquent, there is an ironclad fact that cannot be changed, that is, a stable ASEAN situation is in the interests of the vast majority of ASEAN countries. China is already the world's second largest economy, and if you go against China, there will definitely be no good fruit to eat. Especially in today's economic downturn, ASEAN countries want to rely on China's big tree to enjoy the shade.
So, the intrigues of the Philippines cannot be realized!