The Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper published an article on June 25 saying that according to public transponder data on international sea voyages, since Monday local time, the Chinese coast guard ship No. 5901 has appeared in the waters of Ren'ai Jiao to carry out law enforcement tasks. Over the course of a day, the coast guard ship patrolled a number of islands and reefs, including Second Thomas Reef, Sembin Reef and Mischief Reef, at a speed of 15 knots. At the same time, according to the public track map, the Haijing 5901 ship has been traveling northeast along the northern coastline of Palawan Island in the Philippines, and finally appeared 40 nautical miles northwest of the northern town of Baquet in Palawan, and then the 5901 ship is likely to continue north to Scarborough Shoal.
Haijing 5901 ship track map
The appearance of the 5901-ton coast guard ship sends a very clear signal to the Philippines, that is, China has the confidence and determination to safeguard its maritime interests and will not tolerate interference and encroachment by the Philippines. In fact, in the past two months, as the situation between China and the Philippines over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea has heated up, the Chinese coast guard has dispatched a large number of coast guard ships to conduct non-stop patrols around the illegal "beached" Philippine warships near Ren'ai Jiao. At the same time, the Philippine side was prevented from sending construction materials to the illegal "beached" warships, and attempted to strengthen the illegal beached warships to form permanent sea fortifications.
10,000 tons of coast guard ships
The 5901 10,000-ton ship of the Coast Guard appeared in the waters near Huangyan Island on the mainland as early as May, and now it has reappeared to patrol the vicinity of Ren'ai Reef, Xianbin Reef and Mischief Reef, which is of far-reaching significance. You must know that the Chinese Coast Guard has only three 10,000-ton 5901, 3901 and 29.01 million ton coast guard ships, and its full load displacement has reached 12,000 tons, making it the largest coast guard ship in the world today. At the same time, it is also the core of the Chinese coast guard's protection of the mainland's maritime rights and interests, and the biggest feature of the ship is its large tonnage, which has the advantage of large tonnage when confronting other countries' coast guard ships, and can forcibly drive away or intercept illegal ships.
No. 2901 10,000-ton coast guard ship
In addition to the Chinese Coast Guard dispatching a large number of ships to patrol, the Chinese Navy has also not been idle recently, and has even dispatched four Type 055 destroyers, a large number of Type 054A frigates, as well as Type 075 amphibious assault ships and Type 071 dock landing ships to relevant waters in the South China Sea to carry out maritime exercises in different sea areas. Among them, the Type 055 10,000-ton destroyer Dalian of the Chinese Navy's North Sea Fleet appeared near the Balabac Strait on Palawan Island and was photographed by local Philippine residents. But the proximity to the Philippines is also significant, as it is intended to show the Philippines that the Chinese Navy has the military power to defend its maritime interests.
Type 055 destroyer
In addition, the South China Sea Fleet has sent three Type 055 and one Type 052C destroyers to the relevant waters of the South China Sea to carry out maritime anti-submarine, air defense, anti-ship, ground attack, and comprehensive supply tasks, and you must know that the Type 055 10,000-ton destroyer is the most advanced main combat ship of the Chinese Navy, with a full load displacement of 12,500 tons, which is one of the largest tonnage destroyers in the world today, and is the 10,000-ton destroyer with the largest number of mass-produced destroyers in the world today. It is equipped with a 112-cell vertical launch system and has the ability to launch Hongqi-9 anti-aircraft missiles, Changjian-10 cruise missiles, Yu-8 rocket-boosted torpedoes, YJ-18 anti-ship missiles, and YJ-21 anti-ship ballistic missiles. It has the combat capabilities of long-range air defense, long-range anti-ship and long-range ground attack.
Among them, the range of the Changjian-10 cruise missile is more than 1,500 kilometers, and the range of the YJ-21 anti-ship ballistic missile is more than 1,000 kilometers, which makes the maximum ground strike radius of the Type 055 10,000-ton destroyer exceed 1,500 kilometers and the anti-ship radius is more than 1,000 kilometers. In particular, the YJ-21 anti-ship missile is considered to be the ship-borne version of the Dongfeng-21D anti-ship missile, and it is also the first ship-based anti-ship ballistic missile in the world today, and is considered to be the "aircraft carrier killer" of the Chinese Navy in the new era.
Unlike the YJ-18 anti-ship missile, which uses a combination of subsonic speeds, the YJ-21 anti-ship missile flies at supersonic speed throughout the whole process, evading the interception of enemy air defense missiles at an ultra-high flight speed, and its terminal flight speed can reach more than Mach 8, which is difficult to intercept by shipborne air defense missiles in service. Therefore, after the Chinese Navy dispatched the Type 055 10,000-ton destroyer, the two aircraft carrier battle groups of the US Navy, which originally carried out military exercises in the South China Sea, also withdrew from the South China Sea one after another. In the process, the U.S. aircraft carrier battle group did not directly intervene in the Chinese coast guard's attachment at Second Thomas Shoal, nor did it speak out in support of the Philippines.
Obviously, the U.S. Navy does not want to clash with the Chinese Navy over the Philippines over the South China Sea, which will not benefit anyone, especially since with the rapid development of the Chinese Navy, the United States has become well aware that it has no advantage in naval warfare with China in the waters surrounding China. As for the Philippines, with its own strength and the United States and other Western countries not openly supporting it, it will not do it any good to confront China in the South China Sea. On June 17, the Philippines treacherously sent a number of speedboats to try to deliver supplies to the illegally beached warship, but was thwarted by the Chinese Coast Guard, which also seized a number of guns, mobile phones and other supplies in the process, and a hovercraft was punctured by the Chinese Coast Guard, a Navy special combat member lost a finger, and the ship was disengaged.
In the end, the attempt to deliver supplies to the illegally beached warship failed, but after the incident, the Philippine side remained silent, and also said that the Philippine side would not fire the first shot, and also said that the conflict may have been a misunderstanding. On June 23, the Western Military Region Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines issued a speech declaring that the Philippines "did not incite war." Therefore, the Philippine side is also very clear that there is no benefit from confrontation with China, and it is better to deal with this incident in a low-key manner. After all, in terms of strength, the Philippines has no chance of winning against China without the support of Western countries.
At the same time, China should also be fully prepared not to take the South China Sea issue lightly and not give the Philippines an opportunity to step up its efforts on relevant islands and reefs. Especially for the illegal beached warship of the Philippines, as long as the construction materials are not allowed to be transported to it, so that the Philippines has the opportunity to reinforce this rusty warship, it is only a matter of time before this warship sinks into the sea. Judging by the current state, the warship is riddled with holes, cracks are appearing everywhere, and there are also tilts. Therefore, the Chinese coast guard and navy have dispatched a large number of advanced ships, demonstrating China's determination to safeguard its maritime rights and interests.
Note: The above data comes from the network, for reference only!
(Written by Periscope on June 26, 2024, please do not reprint without authorization, plagiarism must be investigated!) ）