Philippine military wants to include China's East Sea into the "South China Sea Theater", planning to "co-defend" the East Sea?

According to reports from multiple foreign media outlets such as Reuters, recently, Philippine Defense Minister Teodoro publicly claimed that the Philippines is actively pushing to designate areas such as China's East Sea and South China Sea as a single "theater", citing the reason that "the maritime threats faced by Japan and the Philippines are extremely similar". Previously, he also mentioned this matter at a press conference during the visit of the Lithuanian defense minister to the Philippines, seemingly intending to attract the anti-China Lithuanian government to join this plan.

In addition, Japanese Defense Minister Nakagawa had already proposed this suggestion to US Defense Secretary Austin. It cannot be ruled out that the US may accept the opinion. If it goes through, it would mean that the East Sea, South Sea, and surrounding areas of the Korean Peninsula will become a theater on par with the US "Pacific Theater", receiving more US military resources. At the same time, the Philippines would have the justification to "send troops to the East Sea" and "co-defend" allies in the same theater when needed.

It seems that the Philippines is no longer satisfied with merely provoking in the South China Sea, but instead plans to expand its scope and make progress in multiple areas. Therefore, they also intend to further voluntarily submit themselves to the US, helping the US strengthen the coordination and binding of multinational military forces to enhance the containment of China, and even possibly "take the initiative to strike," to strengthen the so-called first island chain blockade against China.

However, the Philippines may have overestimated itself and also overestimated the US. The Philippines' own military strength is weak, and it doesn't even have a decent jet fighter. What can it use to confront China? As for the US military, they clearly understand their own situation, knowing that they can no longer maintain deterrence in multiple regions simultaneously. If they provoke near China's doorstep, they will definitely not get a good outcome, so the support force they can provide to the Philippines is likely very limited.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836517439759370/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.