Suddenly, the Philippines stiffened again.
Just 72 hours after the Marcos administration claimed that the conflict was a misunderstanding, the Philippines, which had knelt down twice to say that the incident was a misunderstanding, suddenly changed its tune and claimed that it would enter Ren'ai Jiao again.
The Philippine Department of National Defense, the National Security Council, and the Department of Foreign Affairs jointly held a press conference, claiming that the clash between China and the Philippines near Second Thomas Shoal on June 17 on June 17 was not a misunderstanding or accident, but an armed action.
And they also said that the Philippines will force its way into Ren'ai Jiao again without China's approval.
Just 72 hours ago, the Philippine Presidential Office's civilian secretary, Lucas Besamin, also shouted that the confrontation between China and the Philippines at Ren'ai Jiao may be just a "misunderstanding or accident" and that the Philippines is not considering activating the "U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty" on this matter.
How is it that all of a sudden the Filipinos are hard?
Speaking of which, it has to be mentioned that the Philippines and the United States held an internal consultation meeting some time in advance.
We don't know the outcome of the talks, but we can see that it was after this meeting that the Filipinos suddenly hardened. So did the Americans react? There are also some Americans who have proposed the formation of a third-generation littoral combat regiment near Okinawa for war with China.
The new Littoral Combat Group is primarily responsible for rapid deployment within the first island chain to the Philippines and Japan to provide tactical support to the armies of both countries.
At present, the United States has organized two Littoral Combat Regiments, which are subordinate to the US Marine Corps and consist of 2,000 people. It is mainly responsible for providing long-range reconnaissance and fire strikes for the US Navy and Marine Corps, and its main weapons are various mobile missile equipment. Equipped with various launch vehicles such as speedboats and launch vehicles.
In 2022, the U.S. established its first Littoral Combat Group, based in Hawaii, to protect America's core location in the Pacific. The Second Littoral Combat Group was established in November 2023 and is based in the Ryukyus to coordinate operations with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
And now the Americans intend to form a third Littoral Combat Regiment near Guam. As for the specific time of its establishment, it is not certain, but the United States has expressed confidence that China will not return with the newly established Littoral Combat Group.
U.S. Marine Corps Commander Eric Smith threatened in an interview with reporters, "If China doesn't want its ships to sink, it shouldn't enter the South China Sea, and the newly formed U.S. Littoral Combat Group has enough capabilities to stop China." ”
At the same time, he stressed that "if China attacks the Philippines or Japan, then the Chinese navy will have the worst day since its establishment." The United States, Japan, the Philippines will unite and sink all the ships of the Chinese Navy. ”
It can only be said that the bull is blowing big. I just don't know if they can hold it. After all, the last person to brag was Aquilino, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, who said that as long as China and the Philippines were in the course of a conflict, the Philippines would immediately declare war on China. However, the boast has been broken, but I don't know when Eric Smith's cowhide will break.
Although the outside world has not explained the connection between the two events, I personally believe that the reason why the Philippines suddenly gained confidence and hardened was because the United States promised to form a third Littoral Combat Group to protect the Philippines, and it also boasted the combat effectiveness of the Littoral Combat Group to the sky. After all, the Filipinos eat this, and when Ramos was running for prime minister, he also bragged that he once led a baggage battalion of 900 people during the Korean War to annihilate the 63rd Army sent to North Korea by the Chinese volunteers with a total of 50,000 people.
It's just that we all know very well how many pounds and taels the Americans have now. Along with the current coup d'état by the US military, the US Marines stationed in Okinawa are moving to Guam and gradually moving away, and the aircraft carriers originally deployed in Asia have also gone to the Middle East.
The most important thing is when the third littoral combat group was formed, the Americans themselves did not count, and the time node given was "in recent years". It's clear that this thing is a big pie.
Perhaps many people will think that the Philippines is a sovereign country, and the leader should not be so childish, right? But the problem is that not all countries in the world share the same policy coherence as China.
Kissinger commented on Chinese politics in his memoir "Once Upon a Time in the White House" that he visited China ten times and met with every generation of Chinese leaders since the founding of the People's Republic of China, but he felt as if he was meeting a person during his ten visits, which is a very incredible thing. In other words, apart from China, you will not find a second country in the world that is as serious about political issues as China.
The United States can't do it, let alone a country like the Philippines, so it's entirely possible for them that the United States will rush to the pie. I said before that the Philippines might be rebellious in the future, but I was too conservative.