In less than a few days, the Philippines' attitude towards China has changed again.
Some time ago, the mainland coast guard and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) took action in the South China Sea one after another, and they were no longer polite and taught the Philippines a good lesson. Everyone looked very relieved, and specially called this operation "6.17 South China Sea Victory".
Moreover, in the face of China's tough measures, the Philippines also immediately relented. Marcos Jr.'s presidential office hurriedly said that "the contact between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea is completely a misunderstanding, and there is no armed conflict."
Obviously, against a country like the Philippines, you have to speak with your fists. If you have to talk to him well, people will immediately have to inch in and launch further provocations. Of course, this is also because, when the Philippines was beaten, the United States directly ignored it. Without the United States to "uphold justice," how dare the Philippines go head-to-head with China.
However, the South China Sea has not stopped for two days, and the Philippines has started again. As soon as the service with China was softened, the Philippines put on a big battle. A few days ago, the Philippine Department of National Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Security Council jointly held a press conference to directly overturn the statements made two days ago, and also named and blamed China for the so-called "South China Sea issue."
Why is the Philippines suddenly hard again? It's very simple, the reason for being soft is that the United States has not squeaked, and now that it is tough, it must still have something to do with the United States. A few days ago, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the Pentagon successively released news claiming that U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin had a phone call with Philippine Secretary of Defense Teodoro.
During the call, Austin reaffirmed the so-called "firm commitment" of the United States to the Philippines and said that he would improve the strength of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and strengthen the rotation of the United States in accordance with the U.S.-Philippines defense cooperation agreement. The posture of deploying troops. It can be seen that the United States has given enough face this time, and Secretary of Defense Austin has telegraphed the Philippines, not only verbally supporting, but also increasing military commitments.
And you should note that these are just public statements. According to the recent statement of the US Deputy Secretary of State, there are still undisclosed secret phone calls between the United States and the Philippines. Therefore, the sudden change of attitude of the Philippines and its toughness on China is probably because the United States has made new security commitments to the Philippines in private, or has given the Marcos Jr. family a benefit that cannot be refused.
We won't say much about the Marcos Jr. family's ties with the United States today. However, the United States and the Philippines do have some new moves in military cooperation. A few days ago, the commander of the US Marine Corps claimed that the United States will build a new littoral combat unit at the Guam base to link up with Japan, the Philippines, and the ROK to ensure stability in the Asia-Pacific region and confront the "China threat."
Once Guam is established, in the future, whether in the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait, as long as there is a movement, the United States will be able to quickly intervene in the regional situation by defending its allies. This is a very dangerous signal, and it cannot be ruled out that in the near future, Ren'ai Jiao may usher in a "tough battle".
It is not that there will be a head-on conflict between China and the United States, but that under such a military deployment by the United States, the Philippines will certainly step up its actions against China, and even hold joint exercises with Japan and other US allies to bring Japan into the South China Sea and completely confuse the South China Sea with the Taiwan Strait.
In this regard, Ren'ai Jiao is a breakthrough point for the Philippines, or in other words, Ren'ai Jiao is a breakthrough for the United States, borrowing the hands of the Philippines to stir up the situation around China and trigger conflicts. At this point, we must be prepared for the worst.