I guess I am becoming more and more of an isolationist. I too feel that the US should take their soldiers, their sailors, and their military equipment and leave. While they are at it they should remember the next time a calamity strikes the Philippines that they were asked to leave and told that their aid was not needed. I disagree with Duterte on a lot of things. One thing he said in the article was that the only reason Japan invaded the Philippines in WW2 was because the Americans were there. I believe that the reason the Japanese invaded the Philippines was due to the natural resources of the Philippines and the harbors wich made excellent naval bases. I also believe that he can not get better military equipment from the Chinese. His contention is that the US only gave old used equipment to the Philippines so that they would need the US military instead of improving the Philippine military to be a force in the region. He seems to believe that the Chinese, who would prefer that the Philippine military be weak, would provide them with the military resources to stop the Chinese military from fortifying the Spratley Island chains and claiming all of the natural resources for themselves. In the end the Philippines is a sovereign nation and should plot their own course so to speak. I hope that the course they choose leads to economic success for all Filipinos and not just the handful of wealthy families who have basically ruled the Philippines for the last hundred years or so.
I believe it will be a matter of time that the Philippines will need and beg for US help....Duterte may be biting off his nose to spite his face. Personally, I would like to see the Philippines more self-sufficient and less dependent, but I just don't see that happening anytime in the near future. Hopefully other countries will step up to help them, because the US just might not do it.
I'm not sure any agreement with China will be worth the paper it's printed on. Examples: China subscribers to UNCLOS but ignore it when it doesn't suit them. China takes control of Hong Kong in 1997. A part of the agreement with the U.K. is that Hong Kong will have democratic elections. There will be elections but China selects all the candidates. Better the devil you know as my dear old mother used to say.
In the negotiating process, you usually want as many options as possible available indefinitely. It seems like Duterte has burned a few bridges, and now wants to go hunting for new pathways of success. Duterte will be visiting China on October 18 to 21, it will be interesting to see what happens. Any one remember all those sweet lies you whispered in your first girl's ear to get your expectations met? .... those are what Duterte will be hearing from China in the next week to 10 days. If he fails to get promises (false or otherwise) and does not bring back a handful of "things" that his supporter are expecting then everyone's expectations may change a little. There may be a lot of oil and minerals at stake, but those little fish is what the two countries are really fighting over today... fishing rights... which indicates the ability of both the Philippines and China to feed their current populations. You can not eat oil. The near and long term future will be interesting. I will watch the near term and I prepare to put my long term plan B into place if necessary.
China is currently buying huge Farms in Australia including both vegetable and livestock as well as processing plants and last I heard were trying to buy larger Coal Mining ventures, and boldly stated that all would go directly to China, NOTHING produced would go to Australian Citizens! Also talks were of importing Chinese workers so as not to employ any Australians in any of these ventures, I wonder how China would take that treatment if another country were to go there and make such bold claims, so I cannot see any benefits for any Filipino Citizen if a deal is done with China (excepting maybe high up officials) and' recently watching a documentary of what the Japanese did in the Philippines during WW2 far outweighs what America did during occupation in Mindano after ousting the Spanish IMHO...
Wow. So why did they invade China in WW2? Where there Americans there too? In fact why did they invade US (Pearl Harbor) when the US was trying to make peace. Methinks Duturdey better study more history or change his meds.
Just finished watching a documentary on the Sino-Indian War on TV, never knew there was a War between China and India, it was followed up by the Documentary on China going to war against Russia, learn something new everyday... How many countries has China invaded in its history? https://www.quora.com/How-many-countries-has-China-invaded-in-its-history How many countries had Russia invaded in its history? https://www.quora.com/How-many-countries-had-Russia-invaded-in-its-history
I don't know if you would could it an invasion, but certainly Mongolia and Tibet aren't free to do whatever they like. Same goes for countries Russia controls.
Mongolia is a sovereign state and free to do whatever they like. They are not part of Russia or China. They certainly have to be careful with their diplomatic approach due to their geographic location but that hasn't stopped them with assisting NATO forces in Afghanistan. They also cheat at poker.
