The Enemy's Compatriots Within

by Jose Rizal M. Reyes / poet-philosopher, Philippines / June 10, 2015

"US mulls sending military ships, aircraft near South China Sea"

-- RT News

"Fil-Chinese Friendship Day celebration dropped due to sea dispute"

-- ABS-CBN

"China Loudly Protests US Plan To Send Aircraft And Ships To South China Sea"

-- The Daily Caller

It's crunch time in the West Philippine Sea and thereabouts. Times like this have always been hard for people belonging to the enemy race. The dropping of the celebration for Filipino-Chinese Friendship Day by Chinese Filipinos is a tell-tale sign of the time.

Why drop only now? Why not last year or the year before? You can find the answer from allied warships and air units getting on a confrontation mode with China on the matter of the latter's frenetic conversion of stolen shoals into artificial islands.

       According to our photo source: "Before and satellite images taken in August 2014 and January 2015 show the emergence of a large island at Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea's Spratly Islands.  China is building a number of artificial islands in the hotly disputed body of water.

Just as China's territorial-grabbing activities that went virtually unchallenged caused nations and individuals to bandwagon with China, or at least to consider doing so, the gradual show of force by the Americans in recent days, supported by regional allies and the usual choral group in Europe, embolden or encourage many to side with America and keep distance from China.

    Alarmed by China's frenetic construction of artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea, the U.S.finally accepted the challenge of coming to grips with the challenger to its global leadership.  The Sly War is on, ready to exploded into mega-conflagration anytime soon.  Photo via Google.  

The tide has turned. And it is becoming more dangerous to side with China, to side with the loser in the unfolding conflict, to side with a mother country in conflict with one's host country.

During World War 2, between 110,000 to 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were interned in the US, kept in concentration camps for easier monitoring. However, there were also Japanese Americans who volunteered for army service; although these volunteers were accepted, they were sent to Europe, not to Asia. This was not the first time that a situation like this took place; it's a recurrent theme in history during times of war.

     During World War 2, the U.S. government relocated between 110,000-120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in the Pacific coast to concentration camps in the interior.  In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the validity of the seclusion order.  But from 1980 onward, the issue was re-investigated and the U.S. government eventually paid more than $1.6 billion as reparations to 82,219 Japanese Americans who had been interned and their heirs.  Photo via Google.

Herodotus reported that in the Battle of Plataea (the final land battle that ended the second Persian invasion of Greece),  the Persian army included Greek warriors from Greek cities fighting for the Persian cause.  But these pro-Persian Greeks deliberately fought badly with the exception of Thebans which gave the Athenians a stiff fight.  When the Persians retreated, the Greek elements of the Persian army retreated to another direction, and there casualty was lesser compared to the other units -- apparently because the Greek forces did not also strike at them so hard.

                            When Alexander and Darius clashed in the famous Battle of Gaugamela,                                                                       Greek warriors fought on both sides of the battlefield. Photo via Google. 

When Alexander the Great fought Darius III in Gaugamela, there were also Greek troops fighting for Persia. There was no report they acted treacherously; in fact, Greek units stood by the side of the Persian king till the bitter end.  They are oftentimes described as Greek mercenaries.  But some, if not all of them, could very well be members of Greek factions politically opposed to Alexander.

       The Philistine commanders wouldn't allow David to fight with them against the Israelites. They asked                    King Achish to send David and his men back to the town the king assigned to them.  Photo via Google.

The most interesting case to study is that of King David of Israel, prior to his ascension to kingship. During the time when King Saul was trying to kill him, David and 600 fighting men under his command sought refuge in Philistine territory. When a battle was looming between the Philistines and Israel, David was about to go into battle with his new Philistine master Achish, to fight on the side of the Philistines against the Israelites. Imagine that! Only the objections of the Philistine commanders, worried what he might do in the heat of battle, prevented him from doing so.

Now back to our time.   The renowned writer F. Sionil Jose recently wrote an article wherein he expressed his conclusion that in case of conflict, the Chinese in the Philippines would behave in the same way that Japanese in the Philippines did in World War 2. Said he:

>> I know now that in the event of a war with China, many of our ethnic Chinese will side with China so I will not ask anymore on whose side they will be if that war breaks out.

I will ask instead my countrymen — they who are aware of our revolutionary and heroic tradition — the Filipinos who revere Mabini, Rizal, all those who sacrificed for this land and people: “What will you do now?” <<

I was displeased with a related article written by Mr. Jose at the height of the Scarborough standoff of 2012, in the same way I was also displeased with another article written by Gen. Jose Almonte. I considered these two thinkers as among the top intellectuals of the land so I expected a more hopeful and fighting articles from them -- nothing less than a guide for victory, just like the long essay I wrote on the subject at that time entitled "Philippine-China Rivalry: Crossroads of the Third Millennium."

But with his new article, I am quite pleased with Mr. Jose now. I agree with his view and I have always thought along that line from the very beginning. That means in case of conflict with China, Chinoys cannot be trusted to be loyal to the Philippines, generally speaking. Blood is thicker than water, more so to the Chinese who have a long tradition of filial piety and pride in their old civilization.

I do not begrudge the Chinoys their love and loyalty for the country of their ancestors despite that country being currently ruled by the communist party.   I myself, I love Mother China wholeheartedly.  After all, China is an integral part of Mother Earth whom we earthlings should all love tenderly.  Although my loyalty is to the Philippines, I have no ill will to China nor to the Chinese, despite everything they have done. All I ask is that Malayan Filipinos should be honest and loyal to our own Motherland, defend her till the last drop of blood, and show unshakable faith in the rightful destiny of our country.  Is that too much to ask?

China's eternally unacceptable trespassing and self-destructive autistic ambition.  

As for Chinoys, I respect their right to fight and die for China. It's actually a treasonable violation of their duty as Filipino citizens but, generally speaking, there's nothing we can do about their leaning or inclination. To put it very nicely: "You can take the Chinese out of China; but you cannot take China out of the Chinese."