The fast thawing of ice-cold relations between China and the Philippines in the wake of our victory over this emerging superpower in the Arbitral Tribunal over the former’s illegal occupation of our sovereign territory in the West Philippine Sea is worth observing.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent and more nuanced (read, less careless) statements of late seemingly point to a country distancing itself from our former colonial master, the United States, much to the elation of the political Left and the chagrin of the Right.
There is, however, a precedent to this. And we can look no further than about 42 years ago when then president Ferdinand Marcos, already entrenched as a dictator after declaring Martial Law two years previously, pulled his own China card.
In a brilliant move designed to ensure continued support for Martial Law by the United States and find other sources of petroleum, Marcos sent then first lady Imelda Marcos to China in 1974. This later paved the way for formal diplomatic relations between our two countries the following year. The United States was on edge when Marcos sent his wife to its bitter communist enemy.
This was, after all, still four years ahead of the US, which opened an embassy in Beijing only in 1979. In between those years, Marcos got additional concessions from the United States as he played the China card, sowing fear on the US that he would simply turn to China if he did not get what he wanted.
Fast forward to 2016 and we find President Rodrigo Duterte seemingly hobnobbing with powerful China and attacking in no uncertain terms the United States. Is this a case of realignment or just savvy statecraft a la Marcos?
Digong has not kept secret his admiration for Marcos, mentioning time and again the friendship between his father and the dictator. It is no wonder, therefore, if the seemingly backward steps President Duterte has taken following the previous government’s victory over China’s encroachments on our sovereign territories will take on shades of Marcos statecraft.
You see, despite the incomparable evils that Marcos wrought on this nation, one will have to consider his political savvy when it came to getting concessions from parties that had interests on the Philippines (then and now the United States and China).
Clearly, Digong is attempting to rattle the United States by reminding our former master of how badly it has treated its former colony — treating it like, well, it was still the master of its fate.
Will these moves send notice to the US to treat this country better? Or are we, in fact, really seeing a full realignment of foreign policy and a real scaling down of our constant pro-American support in the international sphere of things?
At the most immediate, will we now be seeing Chinese-made trains running the planned railways projects instead of the more reliable and high-quality Japanese-made ones? We even hear that Globe and Smart might face a Chinese rival soon.
It is still too early to see what this alliance with China will result in in terms of the future of the country. But people familiar with history and statecraft will tell you that dealing with one country in favor of another will not serve our country any good. In short, making as many friends as possible is better than having one best friend and throwing away another — no matter if that jilted long-time friend does not know how to express love and care nor returns many favors.
In a world of myriad problems and competing economies, it is good to be a friend with China, but to rely on China alone is sheer foolhardy.
Digong should also look at Japan and get as much concessions from it. Never mind the United States. We will continue our love-hate relationship with this former master, no matter what. And we will still get but mere morsels from it. But Japan may yet be an ace up our sleeve. After all, Marcos also played the Japan card.
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Speaking of Japan, the Japanophily exhibit organized by USC Museum debuted with “Ningyo: The Fascinating World of Japanese Dolls” last Tuesday. Those interested to know more about these types of dolls and what they mean to the Japanese, you can drop by the museum, which is located at Arthur Dingman Building at the Downtown (former Main) along P. Del Rosario Street.
Let me thank the Japanese Association of Cebu for gracing the opening event last Tuesday, especially its president, Kinue Sakurai, who could not join us as she is on health break in Japan. But the association’s vice president, Kengo Tanaka, board members Naoko Ando and Hiroshi Yamanaka and Junko Uchiyama attended the event for which the museum is forever grateful. The impromptu speech of Tanaka-san in Cebuano was the surprise of the event!
For inquiries and group tour reservations, kindly call Tel. 253-1000 local 191.