Tensions between China and the Philippines at Second Thomas Shoal have come to an end for the time being. On June 17, the Chinese Coast Guard and Philippine military vessels collided violently at Second Thomas Shoal, and in the face of Philippine provocations, China took tough countermeasures, boarding Philippine ships and disarming Philippine pistols and other weapons.
This conflict is not only a matter for China and the Philippines, but is secretly promoted by the United States, which means that the United States no longer hides its actions in the South China Sea, hoping to use the Philippines to contain China, and has encircled China with the "first island chain" strategy. Recently, a loud noise was heard from Scarborough Shoal, according to the Philippine Coast Guard, on June 29, a Philippine fishing boat named Akio exploded 17 nautical miles southwest of Scarborough Shoal, carrying 8 fishermen on board. Two people were burned in the explosion and the Philippine Coast Guard's patrol boat MRRV-4407 went to the rescue and towed the fishing boat, which was in a semi-sunken state, back to Subic Bay.
After the explosion, Chinese coast guard ships near Scarborough Shoal were already in action. From the scene footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard, it can be seen that there are Chinese coast guard ships nearby. A spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard said it was initially warned and blocked by the Chinese coast guard, but after learning of the injuries after the explosion, the Chinese coast guard sent two rigid inflatable boats to assist the Filipino fishermen on the fishing boat.
It is uncertain whether this incident will be a repeat of the 2012 Scarborough Shoal crisis. But the Philippines really wants to create a crisis at Scarborough Shoal, and China can also make strong countermeasures. According to Agence France-Presse, in the context of the conflict between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, the Shandong ship left the port and headed south to the waters near the Philippines, which was also the first time that the Shandong ship went to the Philippine coastal waters, which was about 360 kilometers away from the Philippine island of Luzon at that time.
According to foreign media analysis, the Shandong ship went to the coastal waters of the Philippines, which obviously has the intention of deterrence, deterring the United States and the Philippines and showing China's determination to defend its territorial sea sovereignty. The Shandong ship is China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier, surpassing the Liaoning ship in performance, deployed in the navy of the Southern Theater of Operations, playing an important role in the Dinghai Shenpin, which can carry 32 J-15 carrier-based aircraft, 4 Z-18J early warning helicopters, 6 Z-18F anti-submarine helicopters and 2 Z-9C search and rescue helicopters.
It is worth noting that the J-15 carrier-based fighter, as the first carrier-based aircraft of the Chinese Naval Aviation, has a combat radius of 1,500 kilometers, has the ability to refuel in the air, carries a refueling pod, can refuel other J-15 in the air, and is equipped with advanced domestic carrier-based equipment. In terms of armament, the J-15 can be equipped with a variety of new domestic missiles, including air-to-air combat missiles and over-the-horizon missiles, large anti-ship missiles and various guided bombs, such as the Thunderbolt-12 medium and long-range air-to-air missile.
Strong performance, for the J-15 won the "Flying Shark", this carrier-based aircraft has been in the Chinese Air Force for ten years, and its performance has been affirmed by the Navy. The Shandong ship is based in the South China Sea, and the Philippines wants to provoke at this point in time, but the Chinese Navy will never agree. The South China Sea currently includes 3 Type 055 destroyers, several Type 052D destroyers, 1 Type 052C destroyer and 2 Type 054A frigates.
With the Philippine Navy's two 3,000-ton Jose Rizal-class cruisers and one 1,200-ton "Cladoleaf" corvette, it cannot set off any storms in the South China Sea. News spread on social media that it was difficult for the Philippines to engage in a "bitter meat plan" on Scarborough Shoal, and as a result, it got away with it. According to the Philippine side, the engine of the fishing boat exploded, but it is not known whether the incident was an accident or a bitter ploy by the Philippine Coast Guard to try to send official vessels into the waters of Scarborough Shoal.
In the event of a recurrence of such incidents, the China Coast Guard can take the lead in taking control of the Philippine vessels and investigating the incident, so as to prevent confusion in the Philippines. At this stage, the Philippine dilapidated landing ship has been illegally "beaching" Ren'ai Jiao for a long time, and the Philippine coast guard ship is sitting on the beach at Xianbin Jiao.
In view of the Philippines' misdeeds on islands and reefs in the South China Sea, China should remain absolutely vigilant. Instigated by the United States, the instigated Philippines has frantically provoked the all-encompassing Marcos administration to create tension at Ren'ai Jiao, trying to confuse the international public and create the illusion that China is "bullying the weak".
In response to this incident in the Philippines, we must maintain a high degree of vigilance. If it weren't for the explosion of a Philippine fishing boat, it might have really broken into 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal and provoked in the waters near Scarborough Shoal. In the past, the Philippines opened two lines on Nansha islands and reefs, one in the direction of Ren'ai Jiao and the other in the direction of Huangyan Dao. In the face of the accident of the Philippine fishing boat, China has taken the initiative to directly dispel the delusion of the Philippines to reverse black and white.
China now holds the initiative on Scarborough Shoal, and the Philippines is unlikely to succeed in its plot, so the fishing boats can only be towed back to their own country. The Philippines has long coveted China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and its appetite at Ren'ai Jiao and Scarborough Shoal is very ugly. After the incident at Second Thomas Shoal on June 17, the Philippines has changed its attitude towards China and has strongly stated that it will take similar provocative actions in the future.
Although the Philippines has ostensibly declared that it hopes to hold a dialogue with China to resolve the current dispute between China and the Philippines through negotiations, this is just a delaying tactic by the Philippines, and there is no need for us to take it to heart, and if the Philippines is really sincere, it will return the seven islands and reefs that it has occupied on the mainland. As the saying goes, the Chinese coast guard will step up patrols on Scarborough Shoal and other islands and reefs on a regular basis, and strike hard to smash any delusions of the Philippines in response to the Philippines' attempt to covet China's maritime frontiers.