Expert: The US Aircraft Carrier Supporting the Philippines Will Not Succeed, the US Should Recognize the Situation

[Global Times Report, Reporter Guo Yuandan] According to a report by the U.S. Naval Institute News (USNI) on the 27th, as conflicts arise between China and the Philippines over several disputed islands at sea, the only aircraft carrier strike group deployed by the U.S. Navy in the Indo-Pacific region has entered the South China Sea. Experts interviewed by the Global Times stated that the U.S. sending an aircraft carrier into the South China Sea is an attempt to show military strength to support and encourage the Philippines, but this scheme is destined to fail.

The "George Washington" aircraft carrier strike group entering the South China Sea includes the "George Washington" aircraft carrier, the "Robert Smalls" cruiser, the "Shoup" destroyer, and the "Benfold" destroyer. This strike group had previously been on a mission in the Philippine Sea for nearly two months before transiting through the Luzon Strait into the South China Sea last week.

The report also noted that whenever tensions rise in maritime disputes between China and the Philippines, U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups often conduct extended patrols in the South China Sea. Last autumn, after China strengthened its sovereignty claims over Scarborough Shoal and Chinese Coast Guard armed vessels increased their maritime activities, the U.S. promptly dispatched a dual-carrier strike group for a long-term deployment in the waters west of Luzon Island.

Meanwhile, Philippine President Marcos delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address on the 27th. According to the Philippine News Agency, he declared in his speech that the Philippines would not abandon the so-called "South China Sea arbitration ruling" and stated that he would use all means to uphold this ruling.

"On the day the illegal arbitration ruling on the South China Sea was issued ten years ago, the U.S. also sent an aircraft carrier close to the South China Sea, but this did not change the fact that the arbitration has always been illegal and invalid, nor did it shake China's indisputable historical and legal basis for sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea," military expert Zhang Junsha stated in an interview with the Global Times on the 28th, adding that what the U.S. could not achieve ten years ago is even less achievable now.

Zhang Junsha emphasized that the U.S. military should recognize that the South China Sea is at China's doorstep, and the People's Liberation Army possesses complete weaponry and diverse countermeasures, giving it full confidence to firmly defend national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. China has never proactively sought trouble, but it is absolutely not afraid of incidents, and if necessary, will take comprehensive and strong measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.