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[global times reporter guo yuandan] the chinese ministry of national defense announced on the 23rd that at the invitation of the united states, from september 18 to 20, wu yanan, commander of the southern theater command of the chinese people's liberation army, led a delegation to hawaii, the united states to attend the indo-pacific defense commander conference. the news showed that during the meeting, wu yanan interacted with representatives from the philippines, the united states and other countries. when wu yanan met with paparo, commander of the us indo-pacific command, they exchanged views candidly and in-depth on issues of common concern around the implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state.

this is the second time wu yanan and paparo have communicated in the past two weeks. on september 10, wu yanan and paparo held a video call and the two sides exchanged in-depth views on issues of common concern.

for some time, the chinese and us militaries have been interacting frequently. from september 14 to 15, the 18th china-us defense department working meeting was held in beijing. the leaders of the international military cooperation office of the central military commission and the deputy assistant secretary of defense of the us department of defense co-chaired the meeting. the two sides exchanged in-depth views on the relationship between the chinese and us militaries, the next stage of exchanges between the two militaries, and issues of common concern.

"as the chief commanders of the two major war zones of china and the united states, offline face-to-face meetings between the two sides will help reduce misunderstandings and misjudgments among frontline troops in the south china sea and reduce the probability of maritime and air accidents. it will also contribute to the healthy and stable development of military relations between china and the united states," military expert zhang junshe told the global times on the 23rd.

it is worth noting that during the meeting, wu yanan also held bilateral meetings or interactive exchanges with representatives from thailand, singapore, the philippines, the united kingdom, france, the united states and other countries. "at a time when relations between china and the philippines are tense due to the south china sea dispute, the interaction between the chinese and philippine military leaders shows that both sides are willing to maintain communication channels to prevent misunderstandings and misjudgments. communication is better than no communication." zhang junshe said. earlier, chinese vice foreign minister chen xiaodong and philippine deputy foreign minister lazaro jointly held a meeting of heads of the china-philippines south china sea bilateral consultation mechanism (bcm) in beijing on september 11. on september 14, the philippine coast guard ship 9701 withdrew from chinaxianbin reeflagoon.

after withdrawing the only patrol team from xianbin reef, although the philippines threatened to deploy coast guard and naval vessels to the area again, its actions and statements seemed to be deliberately keeping a low profile.

according to reports from philippine media maharlika and the philippine star, after learning from past conflicts in the south china sea, the philippines has adopted a new strategy of keeping the details of patrol operations secret. the philippine national maritime commission (nmc) said on the 22nd that the philippines will return to the semper reef, but refused to disclose details such as the number or type of ships involved.

"i can't say whether these ships are anchored or sailing. as i said before, we are making adjustments now... so, anchoring is one way, but i'm not saying we are anchored," nmc spokesman lopez said at a forum event last weekend. "for china, it's better to let them guess where we are. once they know, they will immediately rush there, like being attracted by a magnet."

philippine coast guard commander gavan also refused to provide details of the deployment of the operation in an interview, only declaring that "we are everywhere." gavan also said that china still has ships patrolling near the xianbin reef.stanford universitypowell, director of the sealight project that monitors the south china sea, said he did not see any philippine ships at xianbin reef. he said the ships may have turned off their automatic identification systems to avoid detection.

ding duo, deputy director of the institute of marine law and policy at the china institute of south china sea studies, said in an interview with the global times on the 23rd that regardless of whether the philippines takes confidentiality measures, china will continue to understand the situation on the ground. china will continue to listen to the philippines' words and observe its actions in the future, and take multiple measures to prepare or counter accordingly. ding duo said that the philippines' statement proves that it has not fundamentally changed its illegal rights claims. "at the same time, the philippine government also has to give an explanation to the domestic people, so it has expressed a tough attitude in its remarks, which is all within china's expectations."