Dumaguete Info Search


Colonization by China.

Discussion in 'Expat Section' started by Alexdabiri, Mar 1, 2020.

  1. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

    Messages:
    978
    Trophy Points:
    201
    Ratings:
    +953 / 117
    Blood Type:
    B+
    I’m not military either either but that is a good question. We just continue to pay for Medicare and medigap (thru my ex employer’s retirement health benefit), PhilHealth for short term, self insurance because private insurance here has very low coverage limits for high cost, and the plan to fly back for any long term treatments lije heart bypass etc.. which I wouldn’t do here in any case. It really doesn’t matter what country I live in but I too would be interested to know the ex-US military members look at this. Without a VFA, it might go away. If they cancel the MDT it surely will go away.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  2. OP
    OP
    Alexdabiri

    Alexdabiri DI Junior Member

    Messages:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    19
    Ratings:
    +28 / 0
    Blood Type:
    AB+
    Thank you. That was a very good analysis. I see the same situation where I live in visayas. Anti American sentiment is on the rise specially among millennials.
    China is arming the terrorist moslems in the south and using them as a tool to keep Duterte under control.
    Several incidents recently, has shown how close Duterte is getting to China, from sinking a Philippine fishing boat to VFA and MDT cancellation.
    We have to wait and see what happens.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  3. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

    Messages:
    4,918
    Trophy Points:
    386
    Ratings:
    +5,588 / 2,888
    I read many online news sources and note that comments by readers have quite a lot of anti-Chinese sentiment (and very rude in most cases). I have not noticed any anti-Western sentiments.

    What the President of the Philippines decides to do in any policy sector is not any of my business - it just governs whether or not I can/will stay here.

    I can see his policy is to keep as neutral as possible and so cosies up to China and Russia ('if you can't beat them, then join them'), knowing that the US has a need to retain an interest - US forum members will know better than I do, but I can't see any serious military attack on the Philippines going unchallenged by the US. So perhaps two 'neighbours', who may otherwise have been enemies, have been invited into the sala and another one, now out of favor, is made to wait outside in the yard just in case trouble kicks off inside the house.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2020
  4. AlwaysRt

    AlwaysRt DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster Blood Donor Veteran Air Force Marines

    Messages:
    1,250
    Trophy Points:
    310
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +1,329 / 391
    Blood Type:
    A+
    Unfortunately that is not an option China and Russia offer. More like 'If you can't beat them, let them Beat You' - Economic Imperialism that has already Conquered several other Countries in South America and Africa.
     
  5. hiddenuser

    hiddenuser Guest Guest User

    Ratings:
    +0 / 0
    thanks!

    china does not intend to fire weapons at anyone. they have bought and bribed their way into control of kirabati, the solomon islands and vanuatu. in the south china sea they simply made islands that they now claim and have invaded the resource rich area to the exclusion of other countries who claim the same areas. kirabati, the solomons and vanuatu have all withdrawn their recognition of taiwan and transferred their support to mainland china. china is on the march my friend, using the new silk road policy in the mid east and outright purchase of productive land in africa. all of this is funded by american dollars.

    they are using their military to intimidate as much as they can. as an american i have had a life long commitment to taiwan and the philippines. neither would be independent except for american commitment. if you do not care about any of this i agree its your business.

    as a personal sidebar i had the pleasure of riding with a nice lady from china, and her six year old son on the way back from the states in december. they live in and love dennison texas. they were going back for a month long visit for the holidays. we talked long about life in china. the most memorable comment she made was, "the only thing you cannot do in china is talk bad about the government. people who do that just disappear". ?anti chinese sentiment?? you bet.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

    Messages:
    978
    Trophy Points:
    201
    Ratings:
    +953 / 117
    Blood Type:
    B+
    That has been the thinking of the 20th and early 21st century, that the US has a need to retain an interest (in the region). That was true after World War II, Vietnam war certainly, and though out the Cold War. But at the point that our bases were disinvited, the Cold War was also over and that strategic interest rapidly diminished. So the US didn’t fight that hard to stay. However, terrorism began to replace communism as the new fear factor and there were 3 or 4 terrorist linked groups in the South and to the East and the VFA was born for the mutual benefit of Philippine access to US advanced equipment and training to contain terrorism here, and for the US to keep terrorism in the PI from gaining the strength to attack the US and it’s interests. Eighteen years later, with US trying to pull out endless troop deployments in Afghanistan, Syria and other locations, the announcement of VFA cancellation may have sounded like a gift to our current President. It might even add to the campaign narrative “I am honoring my promise to pull us out of endless deployments in Syria, Afghanistan, (other major deployments) and recently, the Philippines, who are now well trained and equipped to defend themselves”. I don’t think 21st century military strategy in the region involves land so much, anymore; it involves sea, specifically sea lanes that need to be kept open, more for the benefit of the region and Europe than the United States. The US continues to defend open access to those shipping lanes but I do not see any other stakeholders assisting the US in that effort other than Japan. For that, the US does have large bases in Japan (who actually PAYS for the base operations) and Guam. So when Trump shrugged it off as “good, we’ll save money”, that may indicate quite a bit about our new military posture, whether or not hawks (who like to spend dollars for the military) in the US agree. I agree...China will never attack the Philippines militarily. I don’t think China has ever militarily invaded another country. But they can invade economically. Possibly on the downside, for expats, is that ending the VFA may, depending on the levels of training and commitment to contain those terror groups is left behind, that it could become much more dangerous for Westerners, resulting in the departure of many. Keeping expats safe was never a specific purpose of the VFA.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  7. OP
    OP
    Alexdabiri

    Alexdabiri DI Junior Member

    Messages:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    19
    Ratings:
    +28 / 0
    Blood Type:
    AB+
    Neutral?
    That’s a very simplistic view of the situation.
    If it wasn’t for US help during WWII, the Filipinos would be speaking Japanese now. Now, because of a corrupt president, who is a Chinese lackey, the country is turning anti American. I don’t know where you’re originally from, but anti US sentiment is there.
    As for China, look what they have done to the world because of their negligence.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  8. hiddenuser

    hiddenuser Guest Guest User

    Ratings:
    +0 / 0

    well i would have to agree with you that china has not invaded other countries militarily in modern times (except of course for vietnam, india, tibet and south korea where thousands of american lives were lost) . in centuries past the various chinese dynasties invaded all of their neighbors, many of them multiple times.

    chinese are on the march the world over. the "region" that would include the philippines is but a small part of the world that china is trying to influence. i have never read here that an expat feels that the VFA was intended to keep them safe. the security of 130 million filipinos is a different matter.
     
  9. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

    Messages:
    978
    Trophy Points:
    201
    Ratings:
    +953 / 117
    Blood Type:
    B+
    Sorry sir, none of those were invasions. They were border disputes, assistance to an ally in a civil war, or reclamation of seceded territory. I do not know how you “read” how people “feel” although behavior can be fairly predictable when or IF (as I indicated) the relatively stable situation that happens to be here, POSSIBLY due to the VFA, were to become less stable. You are correct that the intent was (partially, on the Philippine side) to help guarantee the security of the country but that is exactly in line what said (not to guarantee security for expatriates) so, so-long for now since I just don’t care to go on violently agreeing with you in that lol.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  10. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

    Messages:
    13,106
    Trophy Points:
    451
    Occupation:
    FIRE
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +16,069 / 3,795
    Blood Type:
    O+
    :meh: No, they aren't.
     
Loading...