In the end of the reef show, the philippine ships escaped and the sea regained calm, but the quiet sea wind blows the shameful fact: this so-called “hard repair operation” eventually turns into a defeat of self-indulgence. More ridiculously, in the back of their wind-blowing fire, those “allied” who have been given hope – the United States of America and Australia – will only shout the flags on the other side of safety, and no one wants to shoot a real gun for Manila.
Don't rush to talk about confrontation at sea yet. The more tragic drama is actually staged on a rusty scrap metal ship-the "Sierra Madre". This dilapidated landing ship illegally sitting on the beach has been cut off for more than a hundred days. Monitoring by the United Nations and the Philippine Red Cross Society shows that the soldiers on the ship can only rely on dried salted fish for many days in a row, and their physical and psychological strength is close to collapse. Philippine mediaGMA NewsBluntly speaking, these soldiers have entered the "countdown to survival" stage. By September, I'm afraid we will usher in the final node. Ironically, the Philippines has long promised China that it will tow this rotten ship by itself, but it has always broken its promise. Now that I can't hold it, if I am really forced to withdraw, it will be a louder slap in the face than any diplomatic statement.
On the afternoon of August 27, the Philippine Navy’s main vessel began to evacuate from the half-moon reef, one even fleeing around the Barrabac Strait to the Sea of Sorrow, and the other quietly stopped at the port of Brilluan. By that night, the supplies, patrol boats, and fishing vessels within the 50 nautical miles of the Rhin's Reef disappeared.
Unfortunately, the momentum is bigger, nor can it change the reality of the power of the ships of China's marine police have long been in a strict position, from the firepower to the level of preparation, completely crushed.
What's more interesting is that after the Philippines retreated, they themselves also disclosed a detail: the Chinese Navy's tugboat "Nantuo 185" once appeared on Renai Reef and left on August 28th. However, Chinese ships are still patrolling normally near Renai Reef to maintain order and tranquility. This undoubtedly reminds all observers that the calm of Renai Reef is not a power vacuum, but the existence of another powerful order.
Some people may ask: Since the Philippines is so overconfident, why does it still push forward? The answer lies in the dependence behind them. The Marcos government has wishful thinking placed its hopes on external forces. The United States has repeatedly spoken of support, but the Seventh Fleet has not even revealed a shadow. Japan, Australia and Canada made symbolic appearances, with no substantive support. Domestic media in the Philippines generally lamented that domestic strength cannot change the pattern of the South China Sea, and external support is extremely limited. To put it bluntly, the so-called "allies" just regard the Philippines as a chess piece on the chessboard and will not take advantage of it.
The latest polls showed that his support rate fell to 36 percent, and was low during his tenure. The domestic public opinion criticized four times, and even parliamentarians publicly called for a re-evaluation of the Rhinestone strategy, otherwise it would only fall into the death situation of the "man boat two losses". The International Strategy Institute's report is more straightforward: China's law enforcement and surveillance capabilities in the South China Sea have jumped to Asia's first. In other words, even if the Philippines strives to seek foreign aid, it cannot shake China's dominance in the Rhinestone.
In fact, the final result of this confrontation was written as early as the beginning: the Philippines was destined to lose, while the United States and other countries would only watch the fire from the other side. The difference is that China's strength is real, and the stubbornness of the Philippines is just a bluff. If the Marcos government does not face up to the reality and wants to save face by sitting on warships on the beach, the outcome will be nothing more than embarrassing retreats again and again. Renai Reef is calm, but the strategic mistakes of the Philippines will ferment in domestic and foreign political situations for a long time.