11 thoughts on “US continues to make a fool of itself in the South China Sea, Jeff J. Brown on Press TV 20160515”

1. You conveniently leave out the fact that the Philippines built their installations in their own territorial waters, while all of China’s are in someone else’s. You also failed to mention China building an airbase within striking distance of the capitol of another nation (the Philippines), in that nation’s own backyard. This is the very heart of the conflict. If China wasn’t trying to claim the entire South China Sea, right up to the shores of it’s neighbors, there wouldn’t be all the sabre-rattling going on right now, and the U.S. would have no excuse to be there.

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   • Hi Chad. I appreciate you being on China Rising and contributing to the dialogue. Thank you for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately for the Filipinos, their claims are groundless and illegal, irrespective of what China is staking. Please take the time to read the following legal analysis and historical background. The truth is, China has much more valid claim to these islands, than do the Philippines:

     http://www.spratlys.org/collection/claims/philippines/

     Chad, all the best from the belly of the New Century Beast, Jeff in Beijing

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2. According to the link you posted, I see no more valid claim by China than anyone else. Is the argument being made, that because the Japanese forces in the islands surrendered to Chinese representatives, they possess the island? The emperor of Japan (who had the only authority over Japanese occupied territory) surrendered to McArthur, a US representative. This is reminiscent of the Tibetan monks trying to proclaim independence for Tibet from China by getting representatives of countries (other than China) to sign a piece of paper, back when the Han took over China. The link also stated it was the Philippines, in 1949, that first sent their navy to these islands after the war. It seems to me, the islands in the region have been the subject of “might makes right” ownership policy, which is only going to make the situation worse. I would also note that while proximity claims will create their own set of issues, it makes far more sense than the 9-dash line, which is only going to give the US the excuse it wants for an armed conflict, in order to “protect” and “save” it’s friends and allies. I understand China thinks that by controlling the South China Sea, they will be able to keep the US navy and their spy planes away, but I don’t believe it’s going to work out the way they think. If China had come forward and said they wanted to invest in the Philippines and develop the islands with first option on the best plots of land, I believe they would be in a far better position. There would be no conflict between China and the Philippines. The Philippines would benefit financially, as well as China, and the US would have no excuse for military intervention. It reminds me of what Rockefeller said, “Own nothing, but control everything.” I don’t mean that to sound like I am advocating a stealth take-over of the region by China (in case certain readers get the wrong idea). I just see recent events as military tactical moves by China, rather than business-minded diplomatic ones that would have furthered their cause in broadening their financial clout and getting more nations to accept and adopt their currency. The 9-dash line and the military bases now on those islands, has firmly pushed the region back into the arms of the US and the shady trans-pacific trade pact.

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   • Chad, with all due respect, you are following the path that John Dewey warned against:

     “The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alternation of old beliefs. Self-conceit often regards it as a sign of weakness to admit that a belief to which we have once committed ourselves is wrong. We get so identified with an idea that it is literally a “pet” notion and we rise to its defense and stop our eyes and ears to anything different”: – John Dewey

     The Philippines have even signed binding, international treaties, defining their boundaries that exclude them from the Nanshas: http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0516/c90000-9058242.html

     Sending a boat there in the 1970s and saying “these islands are terra nullius” doesn’t change the fact on the ground, or water, as it were. The problem is, the Philippines are an American finger puppet, with no real foreign policy of the their own. The US buys off Filipino leaders like popcorn. It has been and continues to be a subservient satrap colony, since 1898, sad to say. So, what “the Philippines” are doing is really what the US wants by proxy.

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   • China has always said, “let’s work this out”. A couple of years ago, Obama went to Vietnam a couple of years ago, probably made promises he couldn’t keep, got them all riled up to attack a Chinese oil exploration platform in the Xisha Islands. To prove the point, China just moved the rig closer to Vietnam. A year later, the Chinese and Vietnam met, worked it out and both countries are exploring the area, and if oil is discovered, I’m sure they will come to terms. The Philippines, being an American ventriloquist dummy, has done the exact opposite of Vietnam, refusing to talk to China about the issue, since they first sent a boats to the islands, back in the 70s, at the height of the Southeast Asian War and America’s continued anti-communist, anti-China hysteria. This latter is the real reason for proxy Philippines’ actions: the US’s relentless drive to overthrow the Communist Party of China and turn China into a huge resource and market slave, like Indonesia, the Philippines and most other developing countries around the world. That’s what empires do.

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3. Jeff,

   I think the verdict that US is behaving foolishly by exerting dominance in SCS is true to an extent, but the problem is more complex than that and multidimensional. To understand that, we must first honestly reckon what US truly is in the first place, and part of this examination requires answering the question, “Is the US truly a sovereign nation?” The honest answer goes beyond the flag-waving patriotism, and requires an honest evaluation of the facts. From its inception, forces have been at work to undermine the efforts and vision of the founders, and using subterfuge to reel it back into the fold of colonial possessions. To make a long story short, the reeling in was all but complete in 1871; a coup had taken place, the Constitution was tabled indefinitely, and a sovereign nation was replaced with a corporation. This is a corporation that answers to and does the bidding of its owners, while it pretends to sovereignty by maintaining the trappings of a representative republic – it goes through the motions, but only for show, and even to this day, there are those in Washington who believe the republic still stands. They are deluded. The US is more like a satrap of House Rothschild, and used as its enforcer. If the US Navy, from its admirals on down to the lowest ranking seaman understood this, there would be a course correction away from SCS and their sea power applied elsewhere that would do the world the most good, but the admirals are already bought and paid for, so that won’t happen anytime soon. House Rothschild cannot abide international trade it does not control. That is its nature demonstrated by a long history of loathsome enterprise in Asia, and ASEAN can be seen as slipping hegemony because House Rothschild doesn’t fully control it. So, they send in US NAVY under the flimsy and desperate pretext of stopping Chinese “aggression,” as a guise to put an end to the sea route of the resurgent Silk Road project. The House Rothschild has nothing to offer instead of Silk Road, but they will put up all resistance against those who do. The sea routes of the Silk Road must be protected from rival factions, and China has a large stake in this, hence the construction of defensive installations atop the table mounts in SCS. This has been my understanding of the situation, in a nutshell.

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   • Thanks for reading and well said, David. I agree with you. I often write about “America’s owners”, meaning the oil bankers. I interviewed Dr. Moti Nissani about bankers and he’s really good. You may want to give it a listen:

     http://chinarising.puntopress.com/2015/10/01/dr-moti-nissanis-interview-on-44-days-radio-sinoland-the-bank-cartels-death-spiral-for-humanity-15-10-1/

     All the best from Beijing, Jeff

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4. Jeff,

   I don’t see where you think I am following anyone’s path. Do you think I am taking the path of least resistance? You keep mentioning the Philippines sending a boat in the 70’s. I referred to the link you posted, which mentioned they sent a ship there in 1949. Not that it matters, given all that has happened in that area over the years. The other link you posted would not load for me. If you were referring (in the broken link) to the agreements in the 90’s, there was not a binding arbitration, there was an agreement between the ASEAN countries and China regarding military action and a suspension of any development of the islands. China and Malaysia both broke the agreement first, claiming they were only repairing existing structures damaged by storms. These kinds of talks and agreements have been going on for years with all the countries breaking them. This also seems to be the story of this area of the ocean going back centuries. That is what I meant when I said the area seems to have been the subject of “might makes right” ownership policy.

   You claimed China has always said, “let’s work this out.” You must mean that they said, “let’s work this out, as long as everyone agrees with us.” They have never been willing to negotiate their claims to the area defined as the 9-dash line. They have been claiming that entire area was theirs since the end of WWII. They have also claimed that the area belongs to them, because it was under the control of various Chinese emperors in the past. I would caution China on following that course of argument. By following that logic, Mongolia could claim all of China as their territory because they ruled it in the past, and I’m sure there would be a government or two that would arm and supply them if they tried.

   Also, from the very beginning of this thread, you seem to be consumed with the notion that the U.S. is out to get China and keep bringing out what I find to be tired “anti-communist” and “imperialist” arguments straight out of the 50’s. America, Russia, China, and the EU are ALL empires. They all have “imperialistic” tendencies. This might come as a shocker: China is not the pillar of Communism you think it is. After it abandoned the real Communist ways of Mao that led the country into starvation, it embraced free markets better than America was (and is) and quickly rose to the financial powerhouse it is now. The “Communist” party has a good racket going, that is similar to the American one, where the majority of wealth goes to a cabal of powerful elites. It is uncanny how much China and America are becoming like each other (while moving in opposing directions).

   America is not the least bit interested in overthrowing China and making a slave out of the country. China could dump all the U.S. securities it’s holding and crash the American financial system right now. Don’t think for a second that the elite in this country and China aren’t working together. The U.S. could care less what happens in those little islands. If they did care, they could have taken action back when Clinton was president, because they knew China was building up those islands back then (It made the news briefly). But they didn’t, even when the Philippines warned them what would happen. They also didn’t rush over there and build their own military bases on those islands. Why? Because the U.S. government didn’t care one bit about those islands. They cared about lucrative trade deals with China, and vice versa.

   Where the Philippines are concerned, they are just sick and tired of being pushed around by everyone. The results of their recent presidential election are a demonstration of that. They have been colonized by multiple empires and their “give-a-damn” is broken. I would think China, having suffered as a colony under Great Britain would empathize. I’ve been to the Philippines, and to Singapore and China too. Here’s some real observations from talking to the people in the region. The little countries all around those islands see China as a mirror image of Japan from the 20’s and 30’s: driving military ships into their waters, building military bases on islands within striking distance of their homes, and throwing around their weight as the new empire on the block. They have no interest in being dominated over by another militaristic Asian empire. As for the people in China, everyone I talked to was more concerned about trying to make their own life better, and trying to come up with ways to start their own business. Also, they only get to see what the state-controlled television and news media show them. Thanks to the myriad Chinese television programs and period dramas (I personally witnessed) that portray the Japanese as murderous rapist plotting to destroy them, and that America has joined them in their quest to rule all of Asia, the Chinese people i encountered seemed suspect of practically every foreigner (except maybe Russians). I swear, every other Chinese person I talked to, asked as one of their questions to me, “Why does America help Japan?” What a loaded question. Many of the people in China were shocked to learn I was an American. Many thought I was Russian when they first saw me. They wondered why an American would come to their country when we were trying to destroy them. Jesus. I can tell you right now, the propaganda here in the U.S. has not reached that fever pitch yet. The media here is too busy trying to tell us that China is stealing everyone’s jobs (instead of increasing advances in technology/automation). They’re encountering a hard sell on the whole Pacific islands issue.

   I think the brinkmanship is going to get out of hand, but maybe that’s what the government here wants. I still have friends in China, and in the Philippines, and I worry about the future of both.

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   • Hi Chad, in response to a number of the points you made, I encourage you to read my upcoming book, “China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations”. I always appreciate you taking the time to read my articles, listen to my shows, and respond. Best, Jeff in Beijing

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