Provocations

Aside from the previous summits and meetings done by the Philippines and its allies, the latest activity — Maritime Coordination Activity — is only provoking the already-enraged bully nation — China — to act belligerently toward the Philippines and the alliance.

It does not serve well the good intention of the alliance — that is, promote peace in the South China Sea as China only has bad motives to own almost all the territories in the West Philippine Sea.

Now the US, Japan and the Philippines through their leaders Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida and Bongbong Marcos will meet in Washington to formalize plans on the West Philippine Sea and talk matters of security and economic cooperation.

Previously, even Australia participated in a show of force together with the US, Philippines and Japan in what was considered a concerted effort to show China the military might of the alliance.

Was China deeply affected by the show of force? I dare say China is not at all perturbed by the joint undertaking of the alliance!

On the other hand, it may be considering options to counter the actions of the alliance which provoked the bully nation.

Will peace and stability reign for so long in this part of the world? If we provoke China into taking drastic action, we may never know the consequences of our collective moves and may start, God forbid, a regional war.

How are our leaders handling this serious issue of China? If ever war ensues, can we rely on our supposed partners or would we be left alone to fend for ourselves?

There are questions worth looking into in the face of Chinese aggression. As it is, we are puny vis-a-vis the economic and military might of China. We rely much on our close partner, the US. If matters come to a more serious confrontation with China, how would we fare against this giant of a nation? Ahh!

If we provoke China into taking drastic action, we may never know the consequences of our collective moves and may start, God forbid, a regional war