As the saying goes, it's hard to get cold in high places, and the United States feels the same way. In order to maintain its crumbling world hegemony, the Biden administration can be said to have been busy recently. Why? Because they are either waging a proxy war or planning a proxy war. The recent conflict between China and the Philippines at Ren'ai Jiao is most likely the work of the Americans. The Biden administration is now eagerly encouraging Filipino personnel to cause trouble near disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea, while deliberately portraying the Philippine authorities as "pitiful, weak, and helpless victims" in the international community. And their ultimate goal in doing so is nothing more than to smear China's image in the minds of Southeast Asian countries and to rationalize and justify the future U.S. public intervention in the Asia-Pacific situation. But once China and the Philippines do misfire in the South China Sea, will the cunning Americans really make enemies of China for the sake of a small Philippines? The answer, of course, is no.
As can be seen recently, after the conflict between China and the Philippines at Ren'ai Jiao, the US media even waited for the Philippine side to react, and then published a report that the Philippine side "will not consider" invoking the "US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty". As soon as the US media said this, the Filipinos were "stunned", but the Chinese netizens "laughed", laughing that they were destined to be an "outcast" in the hands of the Americans.
1. The Philippines originally wanted to play the "South China Sea version of the cat and mouse" with China, but this time it finally "got away".
The Philippines is like a rat in the South China Sea, encroaching on China's territory without us paying attention, and taking illegal gains in the South China Sea as a "matter of course" under the pretext that "what you occupy is your own". In particular, on May 9, 1999, the Philippine government, which had plotted against the law, towed a scrapped US landing ship "Sierra Madre" to the South China Sea, and deliberately ran aground on Ren'ai Jiao in the Nansha Islands and stationed Marines to garrison it, thus beginning a maritime confrontation with China that lasted for more than 20 years. At the beginning of the Philippines' view of the Sierra Madre as a naval outpost in the South China Sea, the Chinese side also took a relatively mild attitude towards the USS Madre due to its international reputation, persuading the ship's personnel to leave quickly. However, as time went by, the Philippines gradually became unscrupulous, sending supply ships to deliver repair materials and daily necessities to the "illegal buildings" on Ren'ai Jiao, which made China's patience with them gradually reach the limit, and began to try to prevent Philippine supply ships from operating illegally in the waters near Ren'ai Jiao.
Some ships are "dead", but they are still "alive", and the Philippine Navy's "Sierra Madre" is clearly such a presence. Although the ship was delisted by the Philippine military in 2000, it has not been officially decommissioned to this day and is still an "active" Philippine Navy warship. On March 11, 2014, the Philippine government lodged its first diplomatic protest with the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Chinese Coast Guard on March 9 against the Chinese Coast Guard's blocking of two Philippine civilian vessels from providing personnel and supplies to the USS Sierra Madre, which was beached at Ren'ai Jiao.
Subsequently, China and the Philippines launched a game of "cat and mouse" in the South China Sea, and whenever a Philippine supply ship disguised as a civilian ship secretly delivered supplies to the "Sierra Madre", the Chinese side would send coast guard ships to surround and intercept it. Sometimes, when the Chinese side is more aggressive, the Philippine personnel stationed on the ship have to starve and barely survive on the dilapidated and abandoned ship. After that, the Philippine government had no choice but to use small aircraft to resupply the Philippine personnel stationed on the Sierra Madre by air on March 13. Now, 10 years later, events like this are still happening in the South China Sea. It was not until June 17 this year that China made up its mind to drive them out of the South China Sea, and the dispute between China and the Philippines over Second Thomas Shoal made new progress.
As the saying goes, if you do too much injustice, you will kill yourself, and the Philippines, a group of "rats" who have been sending supplies to Ren'ai Jiao all year round, have recently completely "gotten away". At 5:59 a.m. on the 17th, the Philippine military operated illegally near the "Sierra Madre" as usual, but was quickly arrested by the Chinese coast guard. However, when these Philippine vessels encountered the Chinese Coast Guard vessels, they not only did not change their sailing, but instead ignored China's repeated warnings and deliberately approached the Chinese vessels in an unprofessional and dangerous manner, which eventually caused a collision between the two ships. In the ensuing raids, Philippine personnel refused to cooperate and had a physical altercation with Chinese maritime law enforcement officers.
In the end, during the search of the Philippine vessel, the Chinese side seized eight high-powered guns hidden by the Philippine soldiers in accordance with the law. There is no doubt that China's heavy-handed attack will create a huge deterrent to the Philippine rats, and fully demonstrate our determination to defend our sovereignty in the South China Sea and the integrity of our national territory and territorial waters. In this regard, Gan Yu, spokesman for the China Coast Guard, also commented: "The Philippines violated its promise at that time and sent a supply ship and two inflatable boats to illegally intrude into the waters adjacent to Ren'ai Jiao in an attempt to deliver supplies to the illegally beached warship." During this period, the Philippine transport supply ship dangerously approached and deliberately collided with the Chinese ship in normal navigation. The China Coast Guard has taken control measures against Philippine vessels in accordance with the law, such as warnings and blockades, boarding inspections, and forced evictions, and has handled them in a reasonable, lawful, professional and standardized manner. ”
Second, the Philippines "pretends to be pitiful" in the international community, while the Americans only provide "verbal solidarity" to their allies.
It is said that crying children have milk to eat, and the Philippines is the most crying among the many "darlings" in the United States. After the June 17 clash with China at Second Thomas Shoal, the Philippine authorities slandered China for "violently enforcing the law" and portraying themselves as a "pitiful, weak and helpless vulnerable group" in the South China Sea, citing the minor injuries of seven Filipino soldiers and the serious injury of one Filipino soldier.
However, in fact, on the day of the outbreak of the conflict on the 17th, the US Pacific Fleet, which has been flaunting its military might in China's Taiwan Strait all day long, has just issued an announcement on its official website, saying that the United States, Canada, Japan, and the Philippines will conduct a two-day joint maritime exercise in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines to test and verify the cooperation of the theories, tactics, technologies, and procedures of the forces of various countries. The purpose of the exercise is to "safeguard freedom of navigation and reaffirm the commitment of the four countries to strengthening regional security and stability." Obviously, the Philippines and the United States are going to "sing double reeds" in the South China Sea, and one is singing white face and the other red face. So, why did the United States and the Philippines choose to cause trouble in the waters of Ren'ai Jiao on the 17th? This also starts with the "Provisions on Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures for Coast Guard Agencies" issued by the China Coast Guard, which came into effect on June 15.
On the stage of the international community, many seemingly sudden political events and military conflicts are in fact not accidental, but have been arranged in advance. Taking the conflict that broke out between China and the Philippines at Ren'ai Jiao on May 17 as an example, the United States and the Philippines have already begun targeted actions since the China Coast Guard issued Order No. 3 on May 15, announcing that the "Provisions on Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures for Coast Guard Agencies" will come into force on June 15. First, on May 18, the Philippine media vigorously interpreted the promulgation of China's "Regulations on Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures of Coast Guard Agencies" with the so-called "local fishermen" who launched an operation to "storm Huangyan Dao" in the waters around China's Huangyan Dao, and then created a conflict in the waters of Ren'ai Jiao on June 17 when the United States and the Philippines and other countries carried out joint naval exercises.
Against this backdrop, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Conda immediately expressed solidarity with the Philippines during a visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, on June 22, saying, "The situation in the South China Sea is deeply worrying, with escalating tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, where Vietnam is one of the claimants." We believe that China's actions, particularly recently against the Philippines around Second Thomas Shoal, are irresponsible, aggressive, dangerous and seriously destabilizing. ”
Although the words of this US official are so righteous and awe-inspiring. But have you ever wondered why at the time when the Philippines "touched" the Chinese Coast Guard and the United States and the Philippines carried out joint military exercises in the South China Sea, he coincidentally visited Vietnam, which also has disputes with China over islands and reefs in the South China Sea? In the final analysis, isn't this a move by the Biden administration to use the Philippines and Vietnam to specifically attack China in the South China Sea? However, what is even more suspicious is that although the Philippine government has issued a condemnation of China on June 21 in the same tone as the United States, Philippine officials have since changed their tune and directly stated that they are not considering invoking the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. This statement by the Philippines has inexplicably gone viral in major US media in recent days, as if it is trying to calm things down and take the initiative to suppress the escalating South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines.
Now it seems that the Americans did this mainly because they did not intend to go to war with China in the South China Sea over a small piece of islands and reefs in the first place, let alone sacrifice even a single American soldier for a small country, the Philippines. Therefore, after the conflict between China and the Philippines reaches a certain intensity, the Biden administration will naturally cool it down and act as a so-called "mediator in the South China Sea".
Following the conflict between China and the Philippines at Ren'ai Jiao, the US media said that the Philippines "will not consider" invoking the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. Unlike his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has more or less the shadow of the United States, an external force, behind his appointment as president of the Philippines, which also makes the current Philippine government almost a puppet in the hands of the Americans, and it is up to the Americans to decide whether it collapses or not. But even so, Marcos Jr. is visibly apprehensive about whether the Philippines wants to invoke the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty when the South China Sea dispute intensifies.
At the same time, US President Joe Biden, who only wants to canvass votes for himself before the November elections this year, will not be stupid enough to go to war with China during this period. Regarding the farce directed by the United States and starring the Philippines on the 17th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian also publicly responded at a regular press conference hosted on June 20, saying: "Ren'ai Jiao is part of China's Nansha Islands and is China's territory. The Philippines' illegal intrusion into the waters of Ren'ai Jiao without China's permission violates international law and the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and is a pure unreasonable provocation. It is lawful and reasonable for China to take necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty in accordance with the law, and it is beyond reproach to be professional and restrained. China will resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time urge the Philippines to immediately stop its maritime infringement and provocations, otherwise it will bear the consequences. ”