October 31, 2017
It’s reminiscent of the two Sino-Japanese war in the 20th Century, from 1937 to 1945 that expanded and became the Second World War and saw the devastation of the Philippines by Japan and the U.S. in the process, BUT today’s rivalry and “war” between China and Japan brings hope and development as benign China started a bidding “war” to assist its millennial fraternal Asian brother the Philippines with a $ 25-Billion assistance and investment package – which now Japan is hard put to match with a “counter” offer of $ 9-Billion aid package to President Duterte of the Philippines.
Thanks to President Duterte and China.
This is thanks to President Duterte’s courageous re-assertion of the Philippine Constitution’s mandate for an “Independent Foreign Policy” instituted from the inception of his presidency in 2016 - the “boon” from the exercise of sovereign will to treat all other countries on the planet with equal respect relative to the Philippines’ national welfare and aspirations, downgrading neo-colonial military alliances and forging cooperative and collaborative relations with all nations.
Thanks also to China for being the beacon in the 21st Century arising from the gloom of two previous 100 years-cycles of history, the Century of Imperialism and the Century of War, leading humanity into a new era of the Multi-Polar World based on the new “major power relations” and anchored China’s progress through its “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” that ensures its dynamism of a major economic engine of the global economy towards Mankind’s “shared destiny” of Peace and Prosperity.
China dares to dream and offer “Shared Destiny”
My seemingly over-exuberant description of China’s 21st Century beneficent offer to the World may seem “utopian” to some of my readers (especially to the skeptical West and their Little Brown Brothers in my own country), but China has proven its capacity and authentic will to achieve the utopian dream in its modern history of 68 years since the 1949 Communist Party of China (CPC) Revolution – lifting 700 million out of poverty and becoming the largest economy in the World (by PPP) and sharing its economic “bonanza” with Africa and Asia without a taint of imperialism.
China with its 5,000 years of history and the wealth of wisdom its brings now shares this with Mankind in the “New Era” consistent in global civilizational philosophy and structure, i.e. to repeat “the shared destiny” and the “Multi-Polar World” evidenced by its collaborative construction with other rising nations’ BRICS, the SCO, and new multilateral financial institutions such as the AIIB (Asian Infrastructure and InvesmentBank) and the NDB (New Development Bank), as well as the global economic/telecommunications linkage of all continents through the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative).
Yes, Utopia is possible… and China has dared to dream and work to build that dream into a reality.
Shinzo Abe and Constitutional Revision.
Japan’s overtures to the Philippines is a small “counter-moves” by Japan to China’s massive global and bilateral initiatives with the Philippines, but it is most welcome in this new era of “Shared Destiny” of Mankind. Japan too has learned its lesson from history that peaceful and cooperative efforts are infinitely more productive for all, but Japan’s Premier Shinzo Abe must also keep in mind that his initiatives to revise the Japanese Constitution to reflect the militarism of a distant past is counter-productive. Filipinos must not fail to remind Premier Shinzo Abe of this.
Below is the report from Japanese Press’s report on Abe’s “countering China”:
Countering China, Abe agrees $9bn aid package with Duterte
Dealing with North Korea a common issue for Japan, Philippines
October 30, 2017 9:04 pm JST (Updated October 30, 2017 10:32 pm JST)
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writer
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, welcomes Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte before a meeting at the prime minister's official residence on Oct. 30.
TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe pledged Monday to deliver nearly $9 billion in aid to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to rebuild battle-damaged areas of Mindanao island and improve infrastructure throughout the country.
Abe and Duterte signed a joint statement agreeing to a public- and private-sector contribution worth a total of 1 trillion yen ($8.8 billion) for the rapidly growing Southeast Asian country of over 7,000 islands.
At the signing ceremony following the bilateral summit meeting, Abe said, "As he moves forward in his efforts to fight terrorism, and also for stability in Mindanao, we would like to provide our full support to President Duterte's approach." Duterte replied: "The Philippines and Japan are building a golden age of our strategic partnership."
The offer of aid over the next five years had basically been agreed by the two leaders in January, when Abe visited the Philippines. He gave further details of the package Monday, to which the Philippine leader agreed.
Another area of interest to both leaders is security in the South China Sea, over much of which China claims control. Duterte will chair the upcoming meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit and the East Asia Summit in the Philippines in the first half of November.
The two leaders agreed that North Korea's provocations must be dealt with. Abe named the nuclear and missile programs, as well as a prompt resolution of North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens, as common issues that Japan and the Philippines will work together to address.
Regarding Pyongyang's continuing missile launches and nuclear tests, Duterte, who chairs the ASEAN meeting this year, said, "We condemn these tests." He also urged North Korea to come back to the negotiating table to peacefully resolve the situation.
The fourth meeting between Abe and Duterte was aimed at deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries, and ended fruitfully for the Philippines.
Mindanao, especially the city of Marawi, has been hard-hit by fighting between government forces and Islamic fighters linked to the Islamic State militant group. The area has been under martial law since May, and Duterte recently declared victory over the militants.
Japan's aid is intended to help the swift rebuilding of Marawi as soon as martial law is lifted, and to restore lasting stability in the area.
