Regional "Cooperation and friendship"?

Behind the audience's [seemingly pretensious] applause and beneath Xi Jinping's well-crafted speech, it is quite perceivable from the looks of the faces of many of the leaders of the APEC-member countries that, at the back of their heads, there is something more serious than what meets their eyes and pierces their ears while China's leader was delivering his message.

There is something seriously doubtful about Xi Jinping's message of "cooperation and friendship" which is the kind of ["polished"] image that China is trying so hard to project to the global community. But actions speak louder than words. What China is doing in the disputed islands in the ASEAN region speaks volumes of messages which are contrary to Xi Jinping's message in his speech.

Perhaps, as a "big brother" to smaller and emerging economies, if China would be the first to initiate a real and sincere effort towards what it called "cooperation and friendship" among all claimant countries so as to deescalate the tension in the region, then and only then would Xi Jinping's message have true meaning.

But until then, Xi Jinping's message of "ccoperation" could only be interpreted as "you claimant countries, cooperate wiih China's interest." and his message of "friendship" could only be intepreted as "you claimant countries, be friends with China if you don't want to be our enemies."

         

Kaloy's Game Plan

Did you know that Carlos P. Garcia, Bohol's most illustrious son who became Philippine president, was a good and avid chess player? It's his 119th birthday today.

Like the other nationalist leaders of our country, Carlos "Kaloy" Garcia too dreamed of a modern industrialized Philippines that is protected against foreign domination. In his presidency, he pushed for the "Filipino First" policy. The policy purportedly earned the displeasure of Uncle Sam and his minions which led to the rumored conspiracy aimed at undermining Garcia's presidency and his plan for the country.

"The American Chamber of Commerce joined Chinese and other foreign sectors in condemning Filipino First policy. They called it an insane policy, a fascist slogan. "Why should Filipinos threaten the hard-earned wealth of foreigners just because they are Filipinos?" they asked. They [foreigners] were so used to controlling our government and economy that they reacted with anger when President Carlos Garcia began to assert our right to formulate policies favoring our own citizens.

"The Americans began to pressure Garcia to abandon his Filipino First policy. The American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) started funding Garcia's opponents and a sinister plot against Garcia's presidency was discovered. The Americans did not want Garcia to be re-elected because as a re-elected president who could no longer run for a third-term, he could afford to be more independent. They wanted the Filipino First policy dismantled. They wanted the import and exchange controls abolished. They supported Diosdado Macapagal {Gloria Arroyo's dad] because Macapagal agreed to lift import and exchange controls, abolish Filipino First and open wide the doors to foreign investments. Macapagal won."

Source of excerpt: The Filipino Mind

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As in the game of chess, one must be willing to make a deeply calculated sacrificial move to gain an advantage. Kaloy calculated the risks of his plan and was not afraid and he did the sacrificial move.