After the smoke of the Middle East War dissipated, people around the world had to continue to pay attention to the most realistic issues.

The great changes in the environment caused by local harsh climates test every country and every nation, and invisibly change the entire world.

In October 2037, the Western Pacific region entered a typhoon season. [bsp;   In the next two months, a total of 33 super typhoons occurred in the Western Pacific, of which 27 hit the Philippines. Thirteen had the maximum wind force of the center exceeding Level 13, resulting in the deaths of more than 13,000 people and the destruction of millions of houses.

According to data released by Philippine authorities, the direct economic losses caused by typhoons are as high as US$780 billion.

What’s more serious is that in the areas where the typhoon passes, the grain fields are almost completely harvested.

In January 2038, the situation in the Philippines worsened again. On January 14, the northern part of the Philippines encountered a very rare hail disaster. Hail swept through most of Luzon Island in one night, and dozens of large and medium-sized cities, including Manila, were severely affected.

On January 15, the Philippine government formally sought help from the international community.

In addition to causing a large number of casualties and property losses, serious natural disasters also resulted in 70% of the grain fields in Luzon Island. What’s more serious is that due to climate change, the Philippine fishery reduced production by 45% in 2037, and is expected to reduce production by more than 50% in 2038.

In other words, the disaster relief supplies that the Philippines needs most are food.

Affected by food shortage, riots have occurred in the Philippines. Hungry civilians not only looted shops and markets in cities, but also hit military camps, surrounded the offices of government agencies and the residences of administrative personnel, and clashed with military police in major cities such as Manila.

In early January alone, thousands of people were killed in the conflict.

After seeking help from the international community, the Philippine President flew to Washington that day, hoping that the United States could provide emergency assistance to help the Philippines overcome difficulties.

Obviously, the Philippine president came at a bad time.

Because the grain production cuts far exceeded expectations, and the US Congress has lifted the regulation, almost all Americans are hoarding food crazily, in early 2038, the United States' foreign aid food reduced by two-thirds compared with the expected, and it can only focus on supplying major allies.

Although the Philippines is one of the major allies of the United States, the help the United States can provide is very limited.

After three days of lobbying, the Philippine president only received a share of 500,000 tons of food aid in the United States, which was only half a month long enough for Manila's 18 million citizens.

With disappointment, or despair, the Philippine President boarded a special plane to China.

Because China has accelerated the speed of agricultural factoryization and provided food aid to all allies, it is expected that the total amount of food foreign aid in 2038 will be twice that of the United States. Therefore, in the eyes of the Philippine president, as long as China is willing to help, the Philippines can overcome the difficulties.

Of course, the Philippine president is very clear that a crucial issue must be solved in order to obtain Chinese aid.

By this time, the Philippines was the only country that had not reached a settlement agreement with China on the South China Sea dispute, and the only country in Southeast Asia except Singapore that had not signed an alliance or strategic cooperation treaty with China, and the only country in the entire Western Pacific region that had formed an alliance with the United States.

Even if the Philippines' alliance policy is not considered, we must make a statement on the South China Sea issue.

Faced with domestic difficulties, the Philippine President had no choice. On the way to Beijing, the Philippine President contacted Chinese Foreign Minister Du Xiaolei, proactively proposed to return the occupied islands and reefs, recognize China's sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the South China Sea, and even expressed his willingness to sign a strategic cooperation treaty with China. There is only one requirement: in 2038, 35 million tons of food will be provided to the Philippines.

Obviously, this requirement is a bit outrageous.

You should know that in 2038, Pakistan, which has the closest relationship with China, only received quotas of 20 million tons of food aid, North Korea only had 15 million tons, most of the other allies were within 10 million tons, and only Indonesia reached 13 million tons.

More importantly, is the sovereignty of the Nansha and the South China Sea such high value?

Of course, in the long run, it must have such high value. The key is that China has never recognized the sovereignty of the Philippines to invade islands and reefs and seas, so there is no reason to exchange food that is more expensive than gold for things that are originally its own, and it is simply untenable in legal theory.

However, Du Xiaolei did not refuse at all, saying that she would consider providing assistance to the Philippines.

As for how to provide assistance and the scale of assistance, we have to wait for the Philippine President to go to Beijing to discuss.

On the morning of January 20, the Philippine President arrived in Beijing and had his first meeting with Li Pingko that afternoon after meeting Du Xiaolei.

This time, Li Pingko made a clear request. The Philippines must first unconditionally return the occupied islands, reefs and waters, recognize that China has sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the South China Sea. Only on this basis can China consider providing food aid to the Philippines as appropriate.

Obviously, this is equivalent to causing the Philippines to "subercede".

If it were a few years ago, the Philippine president would definitely not agree. But now, he has no other choice. Before discussing the issue that Li Pingko is most concerned about, he raised his most concerned question, namely how much food China can provide to the Philippines and whether it can guarantee timely delivery.

Given the domestic situation in the Philippines, the first batch of food must arrive in early February.

If it is too late, hungry civilians will completely destroy the domestic order and cause immeasurable consequences.

Li Pingko's answer was more direct: China will only consider providing assistance to the Philippines after the issues of the Nansha and the South China Sea are resolved.

Obviously, Li Pingko did not make any concessions.

The first meeting ended in vain. The Philippine President had no choice but to return to Manila after meeting Li Pingko again on the 21st, trying to convince government officials and members of Congress to make decisions on the Nansha and South China Sea issues as soon as possible in exchange for China's food aid.

As a result, the second meeting still did not make much progress.

Li Pingko made it clear that given that the United States has agreed to provide assistance to the Philippines, and the United States is an ally of the Philippines, China, as a friendly country in the Philippines, will provide up to 500,000 tons of food free of charge, and it will not be arranged to arrive in the Philippines until the end of February.

It can be said that Li Pingko was already very generous, and he could only do so much.

In the international market, 500,000 tons of rice can be exchanged for 10 million tons of oil, 15 million cubic meters of natural gas, 30 million tons of iron ore, 8 million tons of copper ore, or 150 tons of gold. According to the bill passed by the National Congress of China in early 2037, all foreign food aid operations with a scale of more than 500,000 tons need to be reviewed and approved by the National Congress. In other words, as the head of state, Li Pingko could only decide at most aid operations within 500,000 tons. If this amount exceeded, he would not be able to decide.

It is obvious that food is already the most valuable strategic resource.

In some places, food is even "hard currency". For example, in Africa, the rebels in the Congo (DRC) exchanged food for weapons from international arms dealers. A ton of rice can be exchanged for one million rounds of bullets, or one hundred machine guns, or one thousand rocket launchers, or a tank, or a small aircraft.

On this day, something big happened.

After the second meeting with Li Pingko, the Philippine President returned to the embassy and prepared to return to China by plane in the afternoon. At noon, he received news that a military coup occurred in the Philippines. Major General Aquino, commander of the Manila Garrison, led his troops to occupy the presidential palace and controlled the Congress and major government agencies. Most government officials and members of Congress were arrested and fiercely fought with the Presidential Guard in the city.

Obviously, the Presidential Guard is not the opponent of the garrison.

Now, the Philippine president is almost homeless.

Major General Aquino is the nephew of former President Aquino III and the main representative of the pro-American forces in the Philippines. His military coup was obviously related to the Philippine president's trip to Beijing and seeking assistance from China. There are enough reasons to believe that the United States is behind this coup.

The Philippine President did not hesitate and immediately contacted Du Xiaolei, hoping to meet with Li Pingko again.

However, at this time, Li Pingko was holding an emergency meeting.

"Although there has not been any exact information, it is certain that the Philippines' military coup is related to the United States and is likely to be related to us." Li Mingyang seemed a little caught off guard because the incident happened too suddenly. "According to what the head of state talked about during the meeting with the Philippine President, after the Philippine President returned, it is very likely that the Philippines would propose to return the islands and reefs and the South China Sea waters and take the initiative to improve relations with us, which will inevitably cause losses to the United States. Not to mention other things, the Philippines is the United States' closest ally in the Western Pacific region, and it is also the outpost of the United States in the Western Pacific region. Historically, the Philippines has a very special relationship. We have enough reason to believe that the United States will not change its course, so there is enough reason to instigate a military coup."

"The key is, what should we do?"

After Huang Hanlin said this, the conference room suddenly became quiet.

“My point is to take action immediately and take this opportunity to completely resolve the South China Sea issue and change our relationship with the Philippines.”

"How to do it?" Li Pingko asked Huang Hanlin.

“Based on supporting the return of the Philippines president, we ask the Philippine president to recognize our sovereignty claims in the South China Sea and then take military intervention.”

"It's too risky." Teng Yaohui immediately said, "If military action is taken, it will inevitably lead to direct confrontation with the United States."

"The risk of military action in Nansha is not very high, of course there must be a political foundation." Mu Haoyang paused for a moment and said, "Before the United States issued a statement, to be precise, before the Philippine military government is recognized, we will first reach an agreement with the Philippine president, and at the same time send troops to regain the islands and reefs controlled by the Philippines, arrange fleets to control the sea areas, and then negotiate with the United States."

Mu Haoyang said this, Teng Yaohui didn't say anything more.
Chapter completed!