Mottled tin sheets, rusty decks.
The salty sea breeze blows, and the railings connected to the hull will make a terrifying sound that makes the roots of the ship sour.
At the junction of heaven and sea in the distance, it is even more vast.
Within a radius of several kilometers, not a single living creature was to be seen.
When the weather is clear, the remaining crew can still use wire and fishing nets to catch some small fish and shrimp in the shallow sea to feed their stomachs.
But once the storm is approaching.
This wrecked ship, which can be called "the four walls of the house", does not even have a place to hide from the storm.
Just pulling out such a bridge, the audience seems to be in a thriller and suspense movie, or the scene of "Survival on a Desert Island".
But in fact, this is the current situation of the landing ship "Sierra Madre," which is illegally beached by the Philippines, on Ren'ai Jiao on the mainland.
After all, more than half a century ago, when the United States gave the Philippines this landing ship.
It is already in a state of retirement, and the United States is simply looking for a good reason to dispose of its own garbage.
However, the Philippines has maximized the value of this pile of scrap copper and iron, and put it on the mainland's Ren'ai Shoal to swear the "sovereignty of the Philippines" that never existed.
Now, this "broken ship", which was once baptized by artillery fire and is now blown by the hunting sea breeze, is about to die.
The Philippines was determined to emulate the "Ship of Theseus" and convert it into a permanent structure.
The sovereignty dispute at Ren'ai Jiao is on the verge of breaking out.
Our strong reinforcement has been stationed at Ren'ai Jiao.
Long-term "beaching"
Take 10,000 steps back.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the world pattern has undergone several changes.
China has also gained a firm foothold in the wave after wave of stormy events, and with the cooperation of the whole country, it has achieved the great atmosphere it has today.
It was from that time onwards that the surrounding four neighbors were on the mainland territory.
There are those who are eyeing each other, and even more so those who are up and down.
But whether it is the United States or India, they have been beaten by the hot-blooded People's Liberation Army.
We have entered the new century, especially in the last decade or so.
Through the growth of its own strength, China has successfully integrated into the international orbit, and at the same time accelerated the pace of opening up, making us one of the most powerful developing countries in the world.
If you don't sweep a house, how can you sweep the world.
While we focus on our own development, we also pay more attention to the role of geopolitics.
Under this premise, in 2002, the mainland and ASEAN countries signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
In this declaration, the countries clearly agreed that the main premise of the South China Sea issue is to "put aside disputes and develop together".
After all, artillery shells can only bring pain, and cooperation can achieve a win-win situation.
As a member of ASEAN, the Philippines naturally signed this agreement.
However, with the change of rulers, the survival considerations between the great power games and its own development path, the Philippines has also frequently changed its flag.
With regard to relations with the United States, as early as after the end of World War II, the United States and the Philippines signed the "US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty," which was in vague terms from the United States.
It has saved a lot of hope for the Philippines that "the little brother will be beaten and the big brother will come out".
It is precisely on the basis of this paper treaty that the Philippines has frequently made diagnostics in the South China Sea.
In a vain attempt to force the mainland to take the lead, they can occupy the commanding heights of public opinion and cry out to the "merciful father."
As a result, the United States will be drawn to contend with China.
However, Ren'ai Jiao, as an island and reef within the "nine-dash line" demarcated by China in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, has long been coveted by the Philippines.
He even deliberately drove the broken ship rewarded by the American master to the island for a long time to "sit on the beach" in order to declare sovereignty.
In the early days of the "South China Sea Arbitration" arising from the issue of the ownership of Ren'ai Jiao.
In a vain attempt to win the sympathy of public opinion, the Philippines invited foreign journalists to the Ren'ai Jiao area for "investigation" after submitting information on the "South China Sea arbitration case" in 14 years.
As a result, as soon as the Philippine ship carrying the reporters approached, it received a text message from China Mobile.
It reads "Welcome to China".
I don't know if the Filipinos, who were on the same ship at the time, had a palace-level expression on their faces.
and the unfair award in the South China Sea arbitration.
The mainland has never recognized it.
And after this incident, the growth of the mainland's deep blue power has been intensified, and the patrol of the South China Sea has also been strengthened.
Poor and unflattering
But the blue waters of the South China Sea also have picturesque times.
From 15 to 21 years, Ren'ai Jiao has really experienced a long period of calm.
At that time, the ruler of the Philippines was Duterte, who was known for his hard-line methods.
Unlike previous pro-American factions, Duterte is well aware of the truth that "eggs cannot be put in one basket", and he has abandoned the blind "pro-American" line of his predecessors and instead stepped up ties with China.
Before Duterte came to power, Aquino III was almost subordinate to the weak diplomacy of the United States.
The Philippines is in a state of social and economic malaise in all aspects.
After he came to power, he swept away the groveling attitude towards the United States because of poverty, and first sorted out the internal problems of the Philippine government by thunderous means.
At the diplomatic level, China-Philippines relations during Duterte's administration have indeed made a qualitative leap.
Today, a lot of infrastructure in the Philippines is built by China for the Philippines under Duterte's leadership.
Although it is a trickle-down stream, it is much better than the United States' "lip service but not reality."
Under Duterte's pragmatic "balance of power diplomacy", the Philippines' urban appearance has been greatly improved, and the bridges connecting several islands and the flood control projects of inland rivers have all been built by China.
Not only that, during the epidemic, the situation on the mainland stabilized a little, so it donated 1 million doses of new crown vaccines to the Philippines.
This is ironclad proof that with the joint efforts of the leaders of China and the Philippines, the relations between the two countries are getting closer and closer.
But with the rise of Marcos Jr., this peaceful situation was shattered in one fell swoop.
This year, the Philippine government has even made a fuss about the South China Sea issue, and even forcibly rammed into a Chinese warship, only to scrap a ship by a water cannon.
The purpose of the provisions of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea is to balance the claims of East Asian countries over sovereignty in the South China Sea, and the revised provisions are closer to a framework.
The Philippine shipwreck's beaching behavior has taken advantage of this "framework agreement".
This has not only provoked China, but also made the faces of other ASEAN countries that have also signed the declaration look gloomy.
Jiaolong goes to sea
Although Ren'ai Jiao is located within the "nine-dash line" of the mainland.
However, we have also made it clear that it has remained unmanned and unequipped all along, which is also a strategy to balance the situation in the South China Sea.
The Philippines can figure out the plan with a little bit of eyes, and the Americans can see it clearly.
What can be given to the Philippines, that is, when "the thunder is heavy and the rain is small", slap the slap twice and make a strong sound.
But when it comes to making a real move, the Philippines still has to weigh whether it is enough for itself.
When it was a long time to breathe.
The Philippine government recently announced that it would consider converting the beached ship into a lighthouse, and planned to replace the current military supplies with civilian supplies.
It was a look that was going to "stay for a long time" on Ren'ai Reef.
China is not used to it, and the Philippines announced the news on the front foot: more than 20 ships from the mainland on the back foot have assembled for Ren'ai Jiao, including a coast guard ship.
And where will the situation in the South China Sea go in the new year?
As ordinary people, we can only walk and watch.
After all, the behavior of the state affects the whole body.
Although the mainland hawks are among the people, no one really hopes that the war will be rekindled, and that the Philippines will be able to think independently, give up unrealistic illusions, and return to the right track as soon as possible.