Vietnam's illegal occupation of 29 Nansha islands and reefs and their continued expansion is the most difficult part of the South China Sea dispute, and it is not suitable for priority resolution.
On December 13, 2023, China and Vietnam issued a joint statement on further deepening and enhancing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and building a strategically significant China-Vietnam community with a shared future.
Vietnam continues to illegally expand Hongxu Island in Nansha
Even though Vietnam is still building islands, the main tone of cooperation is set once this programmatic document is signed, and according to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, China and Vietnam signed cooperation documents covering more than 30 fields after the talks, including cross-border railway projects.
In stark contrast to the warming of Sino-Vietnamese relations, China-Philippines relations have deteriorated sharply due to the Philippines' repeated troubles in the South China Sea, which has repeatedly caused trouble in the South China Sea and has made six incursions into China's islands and reefs in less than half a year.
On August 5, 2023, the Philippines sent two vessels into the waters of Second Thomas Shoal without authorization, despite China's repeated dissuasions and warnings, launching the first intrusion operation.
On September 22, 2023, an official vessel of the Philippine Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Agency (AFA) trespassed into the waters near Scarborough Shoal without the permission of the Chinese side and attempted to break into the scarborough shoal lagoon.
On October 22, 2023, two Philippine civilian vessels and two coast guard vessels trespassed into the waters adjacent to Second Thomas Shoal without the permission of the Chinese government, breaking into China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea for the third consecutive month.
On November 10, 2023, two Philippine supply vessels and three coast guard vessels trespassed into the waters adjacent to Second Thomas Shoal without authorization, breaking through China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea for the fourth time.
On December 9, 2023, the Philippines broke into China's islands MMOV3005 and reefs in the South China Sea for the fifth time, and the Philippines sent three official ships to attack China's Scarborough Shoal, which was decisively driven away by China.
Chinese coast guard water cannons drove away Philippine official vessels
On December 10, 2023, a Philippine supply vessel, an official vessel, and two coast guard vessels, without the permission of the Chinese government, attempted to deliver construction supplies to a warship illegally "beached" at Ren'ai Jiao, insisted on breaking into the lagoon of Ren'ai Jiao, and rammed the Chinese coast guard ship at the scene in a dangerous manner, breaking through China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea for the sixth time.
What's worse is that Philippine President Masco Jr. personally went down and provoked neighboring countries to confront China, slandering a more assertive China as a "real challenge" to its Asian neighbors.
Screenshot of Lianhe Zaobao news
According to the principle of resolving the South China Sea issue from easy to difficult, the disputes between China and the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are all relatively easy to resolve.
China has also begun to actively deploy, after the last time the Philippines hit Ren'ai Jiao and collided with China, relevant reports show that China has 11 ships of various types sailed into Ren'ai Jiao, most of them directly into the lagoon, the nearest ship is only 2.9 kilometers away from the Philippines "stranded" the old warship, apparently this is in preparation for the direct towing of the old Philippine warship "stranded" in Ren'ai Jiao.
After the collision, 11 Chinese ships sailed into Second Thomas Shoal
In addition to deploying more ships to the waters of Ren'ai Jiao, China should calmly respond to the Philippine provocation and also deploy to Half Moon Reef, which is a strategic point in the Spratlys, which may become a key fulcrum for China to resolve its dispute with the Philippines on islands and reefs in the South China Sea, because the Philippines has the support of foreign forces behind its infringement and provocation, the most important of which is the United States, and one of the thieves' dens provoked by the United States is near Half Moon Reef.
The United States has added four new U.S. military bases in the Philippines this year, three on the northern island of Luzon against Taiwan and Scarborough Shoal, and one on Balabac Island in the far southeast, choking China's strategic access to the Pacific Ocean through the Balabac Strait.
Four new U.S. military base location maps
Philippine ships attacking Second Thomas Shoal departed from Balabac Island in Palawan Province, which is directly opposite China's Half Moon Reef, and U.S. warships have often entered and exited the South China Sea through the Balabac Strait under the banner of so-called "freedom of navigation."
It is no coincidence that the Philippine ships that provoked Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Jiao sailed from the vicinity of the US military base, and the US military may have been directly involved in the formulation of the plan and provided backup support such as navigation and early warning.
U.S. military base and Half Moon Reef location
The route of the Philippine official ship
In response to the incidents that occurred in the waters near Scarborough Shoal on the 9th of this month and in the waters near Second Thomas Shoal on the 10th, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller issued a statement on the 10th
The Philippines claims that it will continue to rush into Ren'ai Jiao in Nansha, and it is very likely that it will sail out near the US military base on Palawan Island and intercept it at Banyue Jiao, not to mention that China has more time to react, and it has also used Philippine and US hype to tell the world that the territorial waters outside Banyue Jiao are all Chinese, not to mention Ren'ai Jiao? This has virtually declared territorial sovereignty.
More importantly, Half Moon Reef is of great strategic value, the reef is located in the middle of the nine-dash line, and Scarborough Shoal in the north, and Qiongtai Reef in the south basically frame the national boundary east of the Spratly Islands, pushing the confrontation front line forward to the Philippine coastline, helping to ensure the security of the Nansha hinterland and Chinese mainland.
Half Moon Reef is located at the choke point of the South China Sea shipping lane
In addition to the special geographical location, the island and reef conditions are also good, the Half Moon Reef is about 6.4 kilometers long, about 3.4 kilometers wide, the reef area is 14 square kilometers, and there are nearly 11 square kilometers of exposed sea surface at low tide, and the reef area can reach 6.55 square kilometers.
Half Moon Reef is built on steps with a water depth of 1,400-1,600 meters, and has a large lagoon of about 10 square kilometers, with an average depth of about 27 meters.
Half Moon Reef, a strategic location in Nansha
Zhang Jie, director of the Asia-Pacific Security and Diplomacy Research Office of the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that China and most ASEAN countries believe that the South China Sea issue is not the whole of China-ASEAN relations, and that all parties should reach "guidelines" at an early date to lower the "temperature" of the situation in the South China Sea by managing differences and carrying out relevant cooperation in the South China Sea.
But the fact is that China, Vietnam and other countries are pragmatically avoiding conflicts in the South China Sea, and the Philippines has provoked six disputes in half a year.
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