Filipino soldiers in Ren'ai Reef: living in a wrecked ship and living with millions of cockroaches is miserable.

In 1982, all countries of the United Nations reached a consensus and unanimously passed the Law of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which laid down the specific requirements for the division of maritime territory of each country, especially the relevant sovereignty requirements for islands.

convention law stipulates that the sovereign state of an island can have a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles, a contiguous zone of 12 nautical miles and an exclusive economic zone of 2 nautical miles around the island. After the promulgation and implementation of this bill in 1994, the countries around Nansha Islands in China began to try their best to compete with China for the ownership of Nansha Islands.

countries claiming sovereignty over Nansha Islands in China include Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries, among which the Philippines sent a warship to occupy Ren'ai Reef and stayed in Ren'ai Reef for more than 2 years. How is this warship now, and how do the Filipino crew on it live?

all the islands in the territorial waters of China to the south and southeast of Hainan Island in China are collectively called the South China Sea Islands. According to the distribution situation, the South China Sea Islands can be divided into dongsha islands, zhongsha islands, Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands.

The South China Sea Islands and its surrounding waters have been part of China's territory since ancient times. However, when Britain opened the door to China under the Qing government with opium in 184, China's territory began to be incomplete and became the object of division by western powers.

This dispute lasted for nearly a hundred years. With the gradual strength of New China, many islands once occupied by invaders were slowly recovered.

China's foreign policy is to safeguard world peace, promote common development and adhere to the Five Principles of Peace, which is China's goodwill to other countries. However, some countries, such as the Philippines, have taken advantage of China's goodwill to do rogue things.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States became the only superpower in the world. Without restraint, the United States began to fiddle with the world pattern.

In March 1999, NATO led by the United States proposed to the United Nations to launch a military strike against Yugoslavia, which was rejected by the United Nations, including China.

However, NATO selectively ignored the United Nations resolutions and began a 78-day military bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on March 24th.

After the explosion, the China government made a severe condemnation and strong protest against NATO. While the two sides were negotiating, the Philippines, at the behest of the United States, dispatched an "old" ship to Ren'ai Reef in Nansha Islands, China, quietly on May 9.

After the promulgation of the Law of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Philippines has been coveting Ren'ai Reef. When it was distracted by China's negotiations with NATO, it took action against Ren'ai Reef. They boarded Ren'ai Reef on the grounds that the cabin was damaged.

The Philippines thought that this operation went unnoticed, but in fact, their strange behavior was discovered by fishermen in China near Ren'ai Reef and reported to the relevant departments of China Customs.

Subsequently, China made a secret investigation on the ship, and found that the crew on board were all strong young people and equipped with standard weapons. This shabby-looking ship was actually disguised as a warship.

This warship is also very famous. It was the 542-class tank landing ship "Mount Madre" of the US Navy during World War II.

The Madre Mountain was commissioned in 1944 and handed over to the Philippines by the United States in 1976. Now that the Philippines has docked this warship near Ren'ai Reef, China, it is obviously not kind.

When the plot was exposed, the Philippine lied to the Chinese side that "Madre" docked near Ren'ai Reef because of hull failure, and would leave Ren'ai Reef after the ship was repaired.

At this time, China was too busy negotiating with NATO to take care of the Philippines. Therefore, after the Philippines expressed its attitude, it did not take military measures. Unexpectedly, the Philippines stopped the "Madre" in Ren'ai Reef for more than 2 years.

Ren'ai Reef is a small island in Nansha Islands of China, which belongs to Sansha City, Hainan Province. Its geographical location is within the range of 9 degrees 39-48 minutes north latitude and 115 degrees 51-54 minutes east longitude.

Ren'ai Reef is an atoll with an area of about 51 square kilometers including water. The fish resources around Ren'ai Reef are rich and varied, which is one of the main fishing places for fishermen in China.

in addition, Ren'ai Reef has very important strategic value. 33km to the west of Ren'ai Reef is the largest island in the Nansha Islands of China.

The Ritual Beach, located between Meiji Island and Ren'ai Reef, has an oil reserve of over 5 billion tons, which is a very important strategic resource.

meiji island is an important post station for safeguarding the rights and interests in the south China sea. there are various facilities such as hospitals, airports and factories on the island, which is a very important supply point for the China navy. Ren'ai Reef is the natural barrier of Meiji Island, so protecting Ren'ai Reef is tantamount to protecting Meiji Island.

but Ren'ai Reef is about 8 kilometers away from Hainan province and only 2 kilometers away from the Philippines. Abundant mineral resources and close geographical location made the Philippines try to get their hands on Ren'ai Reef and caused the grounding of the "Madre Mountain".

By 1999, the service life of the "Madre Mountain" was nearly 55 years, and it was basically in a state of scrapping. Docking such a wrecked ship on Ren'ai Reef to compete for the ownership of Ren'ai Reef, you can get Ren'ai Reef if you win, but losing is nothing more than losing a wrecked ship, which is a sure-fire business in any case.

how does China respond to this rogue behavior of the Philippines?

after the Philippine side made the promise of "repairing the ship and leaving", it never sent any maintenance personnel and technicians, even the supporting ship. This is obviously a long-term plan.

In addition, the Philippines has dispatched soldiers of the Philippine Marine Corps to be on duty in batches for a period of five months.

These behaviors are obviously prepared to depend on Ren'ai Reef.

China's navy began to closely monitor the ship's every move, and it is strictly forbidden for the Philippines to send building materials and military materials to Ren'ai Reef for any reason.

for humanitarian reasons, China allows ships transporting fresh water and food to the "Madre Mountain" to enter.

As for the reason why China didn't forcibly expel the wrecked ship at that time, firstly, China's naval strength was in the development period and was not strong enough. Second, because of the Yugoslav incident, the international situation is quite tense, and China does not want to spend more energy on this "broken ship".

Secondly, although the Philippine "wrecked ship" is stuck on Ren'ai Reef like a dog skin plaster, this behavior will not shake the fact that Ren'ai Reef belongs to China. For China, the Ren'ai Reef is just another broken ship.

With the development of China, China's maritime military strength is getting stronger and stronger. It is easy to get rid of this broken Philippine ship.

China has always adhered to the principle of peaceful development. When dealing with territorial disputes in the South China Sea, it adheres to the principle of shelving disputes and developing together. The Philippines' petty actions can't change the fact that China has more and more control over the South China Sea.

Therefore, as long as the Philippines does not take any further excessive actions, China and the Philippines can continue to cooperate in the name of friendship. As for the wrecked ship, let it go.

Of course, unlike China's generosity, the Philippine government continues to engage in rogue behavior.

However, this kind of behavior actually made the soldiers stationed on the ship miserable. For several years, their lives were terrible and they could not look straight.

For this interview, he prepared with the Philippine government for two months, accompanied by a mayor of the Philippines, Eugenia Bito.

Thomas was "shocked" by its appearance at the first sight. The appearance of this ship is rusty, and the hull is full of dense rust holes, as if it would disintegrate at any time.

"This ship has completely lost sight of the battleship. It is simply a ghost ship standing on the Ren'ai Reef." Thomas described it in the report.

after Thomas boarded the ship, he found that the deck of the ship was divided into many areas by lines.

The Filipino crew on board told him that the deck was seriously corrupted because of years of wind and sun exposure. In fact, many places looked completely rusted, which was no longer enough to bear any weight.

These lines were the forbidden zones and safety zones they drew after many injuries.

Then the crew took Thomas to their living area, which was a makeshift shelter. There are worn-out mattresses, mosquito nets and some simple daily necessities in the residence.

There are cracks everywhere in the hull. In case of rain and typhoon, water will enter the living area along the cracks and soak the mattress. At that time, they even have no place to sleep.

besides rest, another big survival problem is cooking.

The crew used electric cookers and electric frying pans for cooking, and the electricity mainly came from a diesel generator. In addition to providing electricity for cooking, another main function of this generator is to charge the battery.

The crew mainly rely on the radio to keep in touch with the Philippines, but the radio is very old and can only use direct current, and the generator often breaks down, so it is necessary for them to charge the battery every day.

With regard to food, one is waiting for support from the Philippines, and the other is self-sufficiency.

in addition to supporting fresh water, the crew will also collect rainwater through plastic bags and containers as domestic water in rainy days.

The crew's main food is fish. They go into the water to catch fish almost every day through self-made harpoons or fishing rods, which is also one of their main pastimes on weekdays.

If they catch too many fish at a time, they will simply treat the fish, dry them in the sun and store them, and take them out to eat in rainy days or typhoon weather.

but it also makes the boat and living area full of fishy smell.

The frequency of the Philippine government's supply is about once a month. Every time the supply comes, it is the happiest day for them. On this day, they can eat not only rice and vegetables, but also fried chicken donated by Filipino students.

On the Madre Mountain, besides the crew, there are a lot of rats, cockroaches and mosquitoes.

The crew also said that they had tried to drive away and clean up these cockroaches, but the speed of driving away was far behind the speed of cockroach reproduction, and they could not get in some areas because of damage, so cockroaches and mosquitoes proliferated. Now the number of cockroaches on this 1-meter-long ship is expected to reach nearly one million.

besides observing the movements of ships in China nearby, the daily affairs of the crew are fishing, wiping weapons and cleaning the cabin.

There are two satellite phones on board, which can give the crew a chance to talk to their families once a week. This may be the only belief that the crew can persist.

There are a lot of barnacles around the bottom of the ship because it has been immersed in seawater for a long time. If left unchecked, the rust rate of the bottom of the ship will be faster.

of course, even with the maintenance of the crew, the ship has been tottering under the constant wind and sun exposure for years and the corrosion of seawater.

The Philippine government also tried to transport some materials to repair the ship, but it was eventually intercepted by the Chinese side. After all, it is already the upper limit to allow them to dock.

The Philippines has repeatedly used the opportunity of transporting food to secretly transport maintenance materials to the "Madre Mountain", which has also angered China.

At present, China's fleet patrolling the Nansha Islands has not allowed the Philippines to approach the "Madre Mountain" for any reason.

The crew's daily necessities can only be delivered by helicopter airdrops, but the accuracy of airdrops cannot be guaranteed. Many supplies are thrown into the sea because of errors, which makes the crew's living conditions even more difficult.

From beginning to end, China has always held a friendly and consultative attitude towards the Philippines on the issue of Ren'ai Reef. However, the rogue and greed of the Philippines have touched the bottom line of China and caused the miserable life of the crew on the "Madre Mountain".

under the force of nature, if there is no outside intervention, disintegration will be the last fate of this ship, and at that time, the Philippine government will have no more reason to set foot in Ren'ai Reef.

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