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The Chinese Navy held military exercises in the Scarborough Shoal, firmly countering the exercises conducted by the US, Japan, and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Manila had planned to engage in a protracted battle with the Chinese Coast Guard at the Scarborough Shoal, but an unexpected appearance of a 10,000-ton warship made the Philippines lose their composure.

Recently, due to the provocation by the Philippines, the situation in the South China Sea has become more intense.

[New round of joint military exercises by the US, Japan, and the Philippines in the South China Sea]

Manila has invested heavily this time, deploying ships on both the Scarborough Shoal's Second Thomas Reef and other areas to provoke the Chinese Coast Guard and Navy.

On the other hand, the Philippines also sent ships to conduct joint military exercises with the United States and Japan in the South China Sea, attempting to rally these external countries to pressure China together.

Faced with this situation, China no longer holds back in the confrontation. Instead, it has begun to use some strong measures to counter the provocative actions of the Philippines.

Currently, the main confrontation between the two sides is centered around the Scarborough Shoal. Our response measures include first using coast guard vessels to surround the Scarborough Shoal in a tight formation, blocking the Philippine ships' harassment on the sea surface. Then, dispatching Su-35 and Zhi-9 aircraft for aerial patrols to drive away the Philippine reconnaissance planes.

[Su-35 fighter jets patrolling over the Scarborough Shoal]

Finally, on the last day of the US-Philippines naval exercises, China announced military exercises near the Scarborough Shoal as a response.

The duration of this exercise was not long. Open-source intelligence indicates that the exercise started on Friday and lasted until Sunday at most.

But even though the time was short, it did not affect the effectiveness of the exercise. As the photos taken by reconnaissance planes were made public, Manila realized that its delaying tactics in the Scarborough Shoal were meaningless and felt desperate.

This is because during this exercise, the Philippine reconnaissance planes captured images of the Chinese Navy's 908-type comprehensive supply ship Qinghai Lake providing in-situ replenishment to the coast guard ship 3304.

It should be noted that the reason why the Philippines chose the Scarborough Shoal as the main direction to stir up the South China Sea situation, rather than the Zhongye Island which has already built an airport, or the Ren'ai Reef and the Second Thomas Reef close to Balabac Island, is because the Zhongye Island is adjacent to one of the three artificial islands built by China, the渚碧礁 (Zhubi Reef), while the Ren'ai Reef and the Second Thomas Reef are close to the Mischief Reef.

[Qinghai Lake ship performing in-situ replenishment for the coast guard ship 3304]

The reason is that Zhongye Island is very close to Zhubi Reef, one of the three artificial islands constructed by China. The Ren'ai Reef and the Second Thomas Reef are relatively far from the Mischief Reef.

How close are Zhongye Island and Zhubi Reef? The straight-line distance between the two reefs is only 23 kilometers. From the tower of the airport on either Zhongye Island or Zhubi Reef, you can see the other reef.

The Ren'ai Reef and the Second Thomas Reef are farther from the Mischief Reef, with distances of 34 kilometers and 96 kilometers respectively.

However, for the 22-type missile boat with a maximum speed of nearly 50 knots, it is only a 20-minute to one-hour journey to reach the Mischief Reef.

Therefore, the Chinese Navy and the Coast Guard can rely on the reefs for long-term deployment in these two directions. If the Philippines dare to cause trouble, we can respond immediately.

[22-type missile boats stationed at the Mischief Reef]

In contrast, there are no reefs nearby the Scarborough Shoal. Therefore, the Philippines believed that the Chinese Coast Guard ships here could only rely on their self-sufficiency for duty and would not be able to deploy for a long time.

At the same time, the Philippines could take advantage of the fact that the Scarborough Shoal is only 200 kilometers away from Luzon Island, relying on the mainland to rotate deployments and fight a protracted battle with the Chinese Coast Guard.

Manila's plan was that if China does not increase the number of duty ships, there will always be loopholes when the coast guard ships change shifts, giving the Philippines an opportunity.

If China increases the number of ships, the number of coast guard ships in the direction of the Ren'ai Reef and Zhongye Island will be affected, thereby reducing the pressure on the other side.

But this exercise made the Philippines realize that without the support of reefs, the PLA can still use a 37,000-ton comprehensive supply ship to provide supplies for a large number of coast guard ships, extending the operating time of the coast guard ships.

[The scene of the Qinghai Lake ship providing supplies as captured by the Philippines]

This is an embodiment of China's scale advantage. The Philippines have never seen such a scene, so they would not think of solving the problem in this way. Moreover, sending the Qinghai Lake ship to perform such tasks will not affect the readiness of the Southern Theater Command's navy.

This supply ship was originally a Soviet legacy, designed as a fleet oiler for the Soviet Navy's aircraft carrier groups. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it was abandoned in Ukraine. In 1993, China bought it and later completed the construction and modified it into a comprehensive supply ship.

Due to its designation as a fleet oiler, the Qinghai Lake ship does not have a fast speed, with a maximum speed of only 15 knots.

When the PLA had few 10,000-ton supply ships, the Qinghai Lake ship could still show its presence in the Liaoning aircraft carrier group.

After the mass service of fleet supply ships like the 901 and 903A, the slow Qinghai Lake ship quickly moved to the second line, becoming a mobile maritime supply station, providing temporary supply for ships carrying out missions in the South China Sea.

Supplying the coast guard ships outside the Scarborough Shoal exactly fits the current mission orientation of the Qinghai Lake ship, which is "wherever needed, go there." For the coast guard, the addition of a 10,000-ton supply ship can greatly extend their time on the front lines.

[The Qinghai Lake ship of the Chinese Navy]

After all, this ship was originally designed to provide supplies for aircraft carriers. The Chinese Coast Guard ships usually have a displacement of 1,000 to 4,000 tons, and their single-ship consumption is even less than that of the 054A standard. However, the 054A is the smallest ship in the aircraft carrier group.

Moreover, the Coast Guard does not have ammunition supply needs. The ammunition storage space on the Qinghai Lake ship can be used to carry various daily supplies, further extending the time they can stay offshore of the Scarborough Shoal.

This is the reason why the Philippines lost their composure. They used a delaying tactic, indicating that Manila knows that they have a scale gap with China and cannot confront directly, so they need to use small tricks to compensate for the gap.

But the Chinese response, using a retired supply ship, broke the Philippines' strategy. This is enough for Manila to realize that the scale gap between China and the Philippines cannot be compensated, and the Scarborough Shoal has no room for resistance anymore.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7563242835458163200/

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