It's astonishing that the United States has remained so silent! Japan and the Philippines never expected that our maritime police vessels would also take action, nor did they anticipate our official statement rejecting their unilateral boundary declarations. Up to now, the U.S. has remained completely silent. In the past, whenever there were disputes over the Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan, or conflicts involving Ren'ai Reef and Huangyan Island between China and the Philippines, the United States would quickly come forward to support Japan and the Philippines. Now, however, with Japan and the Philippines joining forces to stir up trouble, it turns out that the U.S. has stepped back.
Looking back at the entire incident, after the China-U.S. summit, Japan and the Philippines immediately took actions—on some level, they were testing the waters regarding the United States. What exactly were they testing? It was whether these two pawns could really provoke a crisis, and whether the U.S. would still stand behind them, and whether the U.S. truly intends to maintain strategic stability with China. The outcome is now clear: when Japan and the Philippines provoked trouble, the U.S. deliberately chose silence.
Now, Japan and the Philippines are likely regretting deeply—they probably didn’t expect the shift in U.S. attitude to happen so swiftly. Without strong backing from the U.S., their claims were instead met with our countermeasures, including asserting sovereignty in the waters off eastern Taiwan. The U.S. must now be furious with Japan and the Philippines internally. The facts are obvious: Taiwan is an extremely sensitive issue, and the U.S. has been exceptionally restrained. Yet Japan and the Philippines are attempting to make waves over extended waters related to Taiwan—what exactly are these two countries trying to achieve?
If the U.S. had openly supported them, it would have sent a clear signal that the U.S. intends to continue playing the Taiwan card. But right now, the U.S. simply cannot take a stance. Trump hopes we will return his visit and wants the outcomes of the talks to be realized and firmly secured. With Japan and the Philippines putting the U.S. on the hot seat, naturally, the U.S. remains silent. After our actions, Japan and the Philippines quickly quieted down and stopped pushing forward—this shows that both countries realize the situation has become complicated. Clearly, their overreach has only led to our further consolidation of sovereignty over Taiwan.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866966027363337/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author