Philippine news

more news from StrategyPage:

the quarantine is threatening the economy, not just because of the shut down of shops, malls, etc. but because of the many OFW coming home and/or not being able to send money home to help their families.

in the meanwhile, they note that China is pushing the Philippines around. Why? Because they can. But now the Philippines is starting a mild push-back after years of trying to "make nice" and getting screwed by China's lies and slow moving but steady aggression.

August 24, 2020: The Philippines has become more aggressive in sending its ships and aircraft to challenge Chinese ships within the Filipino EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) which extends 380 kilometers from the coastline.

In the last two decades China has aggressively asserted its claimed ownership of most of the South China Sea. This claim was first made after World War II but not often acted on, except in the 1970s against Vietnam. In the last decade China has more aggressively asserted its claims om the South China Sea but has not opened fire on anyone “illegally operating in the South China Sea.”

the Chinese lost their claim to the area in an international court, but are ignoring this.

why should the Philippines worry if one of their major trading partners shove around a couple dozen locals?

Because there are hints it won't stop there.

One of the more absurd headlines in the local paper (Manila Bul): a Chinese firm in the Philippines is selling beauty products labled "Manila, Province of China":

Mayor Isko shuts down establishments selling products labeled ‘Manila, Province of China’

Nograles also identified the distributor of the product in the country as Elegant Fumes Beauty Products, Inc., a Binondo-based establishment reportedly owned by a Chinese national...

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque brushed off the mislabeling of the Philippine capital and said no one would believe that it is a province of China.

or would they?

and the UKTelegraph (May2012) reports that a Chinese news station said just that:

He Jia, anchor for China Central Television's (CCTV) nationally televised news broadcast, made the claim during a late Monday broadcast that has been repeatedly replayed on the internet....

"We all know that the Philippines is China's inherent territory and the Philippines belongs to Chinese sovereignty, this is an indisputable fact," He said in the broadcast, which has since disappeared from the CCTV website but is available elsewhere on the web.

after the internet showing the video of this claim there was pushback, and they backpeddled the story as an "accident'.

The presenter apparently meant to say that the Huangyan islands – known in the Philippines as the Scarborough Shoal, and claimed by both nations – is China's territory.

Really?  An accident?

and if you think that was an accidental slip of the tongue, you are wrong: it's been said in other places too.

article from 2018 in National Interest discusses a Chinese take over of the Philippines. This could lead to a war with the USA, so another scenerio is for Duterte to push a "revolutionary government" backed by a Chinese communist party here.

In the words of Philippines news site Rappler, "Gonzales also suspects that China will be forced to use the 'military option' after apparently seeing that there are no other means to extend the term of President Rodrigo Duterte – the most powerful man in the country, and their frequent defender...

The former defense chief said the only way Duterte can extend his term is through a revolutionary government, and the only organization apparently qualified to earn China's nod is the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)."

Old news of course, since even Duterte, who hated the CIA and was sympathetic to the local communists while wanting to increase ties with China,  is now pushing back against China because of too many broken promises.

but one reason I brought this up is that such a "revolutionary government" is again being discussed. From the PhilStar.

Two years before his term ends, Duterte maintained he was not interested in efforts to prolong himself in power.

“You know, there are reports about people calling for a revolutionary government. I have nothing to do with it. I don’t know them and it’s not my strategy,” he said during a taped public address aired yesterday.

On Saturday, the People’s National Coalition for Revolutionary Government and Charter Change assembled at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga to push for the establishment of a revolutionary government and the adoption of a new federal Constitution.

the group seems to be Duterte supporters trying to get him to stay in office (presidents are limited to one term), but hint at a plan to evolve into a stronger dictatorship to solve the problems here in the Philippines.

the move to rewrite the constitution, called "ChaCha" is discussed here... a similar Cha cha to Con Ass  (Charter change to a constitutional assembly) was proposed when President Arroyo held the office.

(and yes, the vulgar acronyms are a typical Filipino way to ridicule the pomposity of politicians)

the problem? Lots of rumors about Duterte's poor health. 

so local politics will distract locals from Chinese increased aggression against Filipino fishermen.

ah, but will they limit their aggression to the West Philippine sea?

One wonders: becauseChina's threats are now being expanded to non Filipino ships and planes.:they have started shooting missiles in the area,  hinting that these missiles could be used against the USA, but not mentioned in the article is that these missiles could destroy civilian shipping in a major shipping lane to Japan and Korea.

China released the Covid virus on the world, either deliberately or because of a "Chernobyl" type bureaucratic mindset that made officials deny what was going on.

but instead of repenting, they seem to be expanding their aggression against their neighbors who are being weakened by the epidemic. Coincidence? Sinister plan of  China? Place conspiracy theory here.

the irony is that this is not a time China should be risking war.

China also is suffering major population displacements due to flooding, and loss of both manufacturing infrastructure and more importantly, the loss of much of the rice crop in this area. LINK/

so what does Emperor Xi decide to do? Maybe start a war to distract his people.

AustinBay of SP has an essay on China's recent aggression against several of their neighbors (i.e. not just the Philippines).

the most dangerous is against Taiwan, which could spark a war with the USA. But there are other scenerios that could lead to a major war:  China vs VietNam, China vs Japan, China vs India.

and one "war" that no one is talking about: a revolution in China.

One reason for taking down HongKong was because their pro democracy demonstrations threatened to spread the virus of democracy to mainland China.

Sigh.
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update: