/ world today news/ The Chinese Coast Guard published a video yesterday showing how its ship fired a warning water cannon at Philippine ships that illegally entered the waters near the Zheng’ai Reef of the Nansha Archipelago. It clearly shows that the Chinese Coast Guard vessel is much larger than the Philippine one, but the operation on the ground is professional and low-key. According to analysts, the actions are aimed at preventing a direct confrontation.
Zhen’ai Reef is part of China’s Nansha Archipelago. On 9 May 1999, a damaged landing craft of the Philippine Navy reached it, claiming that its bottom had leaked and needed to dock, but soldiers were subsequently sent there in shifts in an attempt to establish actual control. Since then, the Philippines has repeatedly promised to withdraw the warship, but has so far failed to do so. At the same time, the United States encouraged and supported Manila’s actions and even sent military aircraft and ships to cooperate and support them by sea.
More broadly, Washington is using territorial disputes in the South China Sea as a trump card to contain Beijing, even though they have nothing to do with them. In recent years, the US has claimed that “freedom of navigation anywhere in the South China Sea is under threat”, sowing discord between countries in the region. The latest incident around Zhen’ai Reef once again shows that the United States cannot tolerate calm in the South China Sea and will “muddy” the water whenever they see an opportunity.
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