The Philippines: Why it is Choosing US Destruction Over Chinese Construction

- The US has dominated the foreign and domestic policy of the Southeast Asian country of the Philippines for decades, having formally ruled the nation as a colony from 1898-1946;

- The Philippines has been used for US military basing throughout the Cold War and is now enlarging its military footprint on the Philippines under the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.;

- It was under President Rodrigo Duterte that the US was being pressured to leave the nation while also expanding closer ties with China who was and still is the Philippines’ largest trade partner;

- Today, infrastructure projects underway during President Duterte’s administration have been literally torn down, instead military bases are being built to point missiles at the Philippines’ largest trade partner, China;

- The US through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has created large numbers of media platforms, political organizations, and education programs meant to convince the Philippine people that serving US foreign policy objectives is in their own best interests;

- The ultimate irony is that these US efforts have convinced Filipinos that fighting China is necessary to protect their sovereignty, when in fact US influence over Philippine foreign policy already constitutes the usurpation of Philippine sovereignty;

- Ukraine provides an example of where this process of the US using the Philippines as a proxy against China ultimately leads if the Philippine people are unable to recognize their current government is serving US interests at the expense of their own interests;

References:

SCMP - China-Philippines ties on ‘brink of total breakdown’: unpacking the collapse (June 29, 2024):

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3268506/china-philippines-ties-brink-total-breakdown-unpacking-collapse

AP - China publicizes for the first time what it claims is a 2016 agreement with Philippines (May 3, 2024):

https://apnews.com/article/china-south-china-sea-philippines-alleged-agreement-0006abb98502727972872bcecfd49a51

SCMP - South China Sea: Philippine admiral at centre of ‘new deal’ saga breaks silence on alleged pact with Beijing (May 2024):

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3263692/south-china-sea-philippine-admiral-centre-new-deal-saga-breaks-silence-alleged-pact-beijing

US State Department, Office of the Historian - The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902:

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war

Rappler - Duterte falsely claims CIA funds Rappler (October 2017):

https://www.rappler.com/philippines/185098-duterte-false-claim-cia-funds-rappler-american-ownership/

National Endowment for Democracy (NED) - Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa Joins World Movement for Democracy at NED as Chairperson (October 2022):

https://www.ned.org/nobel-peace-prize-winner-maria-ressa-joins-world-movement-for-democracy-at-ned-as-chairperson/

WDM - Maria Ressa – Chair:

https://www.movedemocracy.org/person/maria-ressa-chair

NYT - Political Meddling by Outsiders: Not New for U.S. (1997):

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/31/us/political-meddling-by-outsiders-not-new-for-us.html

NYT - MISSIONARIES FOR DEMOCRACY: U.S. AID FOR GLOBAL PLURALISM (1986):

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/01/world/missionaries-for-democracy-us-aid-for-global-pluralism.html

The Guardian - US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev (November 2004):

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/nov/26/ukraine.usa

NYT - U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings (April 2011):

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/world/15aid.html

Reuters - Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic (June 14, 2024):

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/

How to Support Brian's Work (and thank you!):

Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheNewAtlas

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/landdestroyer

PromptPay: 0851547235

Cryptocurrency Donations:

Ethereum (ETH): 0xee6ed93c3adc474450011e9af22939a0b9b312c7

BitCoin (BTC): 1AfGnbmHxA6cy9YKUSxysXvpJPyecpBKrr

Monero (XMR): 845TCXx3pchSBXuDL7FHG679gbWD2wkHS6MJxuq7jFVsVFj7T6xsry747uhhGZUdkaRXbbrMfo5c8RnGfzGZ13KxQUdHVLR

Mirrored - The New Atlas