Chinese forces are massing in the South China Sea.
One wrong move, and the whole thing could explode.
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
The South China Sea is heating up.
And no, it’s not because of climate change.
Earlier last week, the United States combat ship the USS Gabrielle Giffords conducted
routine operations in international waters past the Second Thomas Shoal.
The Second Thomas Shoal is in the South China Sea.
It’s within the nine-dash line, an area China claims as its own, and, also, coincidentally,
an area that includes the entire South China Sea.
So, of course, this drew criticism from China, which claimed that the US Navy “illegally
intruded” into its territory.
My favorite Chinese state-run media, the Global Times, accused the US of “creating regional
tensions” and “creat[ing] resentment against China.”
I guess it’s true what China says.
The US *is* “stirring” up trouble in the region.
Yeah…no.
Part of the reason the US performs routine operations in that part of the South China
Sea is to show solidarity with longtime ally the Philippines.
You see, China may claim the entire South China Sea belongs to it.
But the rest of the world has a different view of things.
And according to international law, the Second Thomas Shoal is well within the boundaries
of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Of course, that isn’t stopping China.
It has created militarized bases in the area, like the Fiery Cross Reef, seen here in 2006
and 2022.
I don’t see a difference.
Do you?
￼￼
China also frequently uses its coastal forces to harass Filipino ships with dangerous maneuvers.
Such as bumping supply ships, …as it did on October 22nd.
Or blocking Philippine Coast Guard ships, as it did on October 4th…
And again on October 22nd.
Yes, those are just the incidents from October.
Then, of course, there is the Julian Filipe Reef, also known as Whitsun Reef…
…where a swarm of Chinese maritime militia ships is amassing.
This has been going on since November.
The swarm is reportedly up to over 135 Chinese vessels now!
Up from 111 on November 13th.
It’s not as high as the 200 spotted at the reef in March 2021, but the day is young.
All this is done to wall off the Philippines from the region.
The Philippines is not taking this lying down.
In response to China’s aggression, the Philippines has been taking a tougher stance, even going
so far as to scrap $5 billion worth of rail projects with China.
It has also been conducting military exercises with regional partners like the US, Japan,
South Korea, and Britain.
With Japan, this included practice using water cannons and towing.
It’s not just exercises.
The Philippines has conducted joint patrols with the US…
…as well as Australia.
It’s also in talks with other countries like Japan, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, and
France to conduct joint patrols.
The Philippines has been beefing up its counter against China in other ways as well.
One of them is by maintaining the Sierra Madre…
…a WWII-era ship deliberately grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal to maintain Filipino
presence in the region.
Yes, the same Second Thomas Shoal that the USS Gabrielle Giffords passed near,
Chinese blockades constantly try to keep the Philippines from resupplying the Sierra Madre,
but the Philippines keeps managing to get through.
In addition, the Philippines recently announced a civilian Christmas convoy to visit disputed
South China Sea islands between December 10th and 12th of this year.
It’s going to be a very merry Christmas this year.
Although the Philippines is restricting access to the BRP Sierra Madre out of safety concerns,
the Christmas convoy will visit other important locations in the South China Sea.
One of them is Thitu Island in the Spratlys archipelago.
It’s a very small 91-acre island that’s around 300 miles from the Philippines mainland.
But it’s vital for the Philippines, and it could be a flashpoint of conflict.
I’ll tell you why after the break.
Welcome back.
Thitu Island is a major point of conflict between the Philippines and China.
It constantly faces harassment from Chinese maritime militia vessels.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Chinese militia boats have in recent years gathered
around Thitu in large numbers—some 40 or 45 in November—lingering for days or weeks
at a time, often backed up by Chinese coast-guard ships.”
There’s a good reason why China’s doing this.
Thitu Island is just 14 miles away from Subi Reef…
…a place that’s brimming with Chinese military infrastructure.
￼￼￼￼
China would very much like to take Thitu and other Filipino islands to exert influence
in the Asia-Pacific and the wider world in general.
The Philippines knows that it can’t back down, which is why it’s using Thitu Island
to double down on countering China’s military buildup.
On top of encouraging civilians to live on Thitu Island with free rice, the island now
has vital infrastructure like wifi and cellphone connection, paved roads, a wharf, a grade
school, a gymnasium, and an evaluation center.
On top of that, the Philippines recently inaugurated a new coast guard monitoring base there.
The base even has the added benefit of having been blessed with holy water!
Filipino National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and other Philippine officials flew to
Thitu Island to lead the opening ceremony for the center.
According to him, Thitu Island will be equipped with radar, satellite communication, coastal
cameras, ship traffic management, and other advanced systems by early next year.
This is a major blow to China’s grayzone tactics of doing everything short of war to
harass the Philippines and expand its military reach.
So China’s reaction to all of this?
Well, Chinese state-run media claim that the Philippines “lacks rationality and balance”.
Really?
The *Philippines* lacks rationality and balance?
I think it’s perfectly rational and balanced for the Philippines to continue what it’s
doing, considering the absolutely insane things that China’s been doing.
Look no further than the footage that the Philippines captured of China’s maritime
militia amassing near the Whitsun Reef,
which isn’t too far from Thitu Island.
Of course, the Asia Times says the recent expansion of the Thitu Island base is “putting
[the Philippines] on a collision course with China in the South China Sea.”
And I wouldn’t be surprised if something did ignite thanks to China’s bullying, especially
if China escalates things.
Hopefully, the Philippines will be ready when that time comes.
Now, I’ve got a video I want to show you that I think will tickle your fancy, but first,
it’s time to show love to the people who make this show possible, the China Uncensored
50 Cent Army—
Fans who support the show on patreon.com/chinauncensored.
As my way of thanks, I answer their questions at the end of these episodes.
Today’s question comes from Steve Hudson “Chris, I would love to see an update on
the princelings in the new chaos, and maybe even an episode detailing them and their spawn.”
￼
Ahh the princelings—that’s a term for the sons and daughters of the Chinese Communist
Party’s original elite members.
They essentially are the red aristocracy of China’s great classless Communist system.
In fact JPMorgan had to play a huge fine for creating a sons and daughters program to specifically
hire princelings.
Yes, the enemies are in the gate.
So there are a bunch of princelings, and their interests don’t always align so it’s hard
to talk about them as a single cohesive group.
But the main two you need to know are Xi Jinping and Zeng Qinghong.
Zeng is the highest ranking member of a political clique tied to former Chinese leader Jiang
Zemin, which is dedicated to overthrowing Xi.
(b-roll Zeng and Jiang)
So he’s kind of the head of the anti-Xi coalition.
But even the anti-Xi coalition isn’t a uniform group anymore.
Originally it was mainly the Jiang faction, but Xi has managed to make so many enemies,
that they all found common ground.
In the future, after the Chinese Communist Party falls, it will be very important for
people to keep track of these princelings and make sure they don’t swoop into the
power vacuum and take over, because then nothing will really change in China.
And of course, they would still seduce influential American institutions for their own aims.
Thanks for your question and your support Steve
And here’s that video I want to show you.
It’s about why millennials will never own a home, a controversial topic I’ve hidden
in gaming content about Animal Crossing on my new channel.
Check it out!
And if you want to support China Uncensored on Patreon, click that orange button.
We’ll sink if it weren’t for supporters like you.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.