War!----? China--- The Philippines---DON''T!

There have been unverified reports that China is preparing for war against its smaller neighbour, The Philippines; purportedly over a few tiny islands. Of course there will be more to this--- no doubt possible oil reserves and other minerals will be driving this.

If this is true, and I am somewhat unsure about the reports, then it is not something we have seen a lot of from China. They are not known as an expansionist nation militarily. Why would they, when they are achieving much the same result re some sort of world-wide domination, through the strength of their bourgeoning economic power? Why would they use the possibility of gaining access to oil bearing areas, when they can simply pay for that through their massive monetary resources?

I would be sad to see this ancient nation go down the road of some of the European ex-colonial powers. They could have achieved this centuries ago when one of their famous emperors was in a position to conquer much of Asia and beyond. They didn’t--- they turned ‘inward’ and left the world to its own devises.

What about the Philippines? They are hardly a world power and if it did come to war, it would not only involve them. I would hate to see this nation plunged into an unwinnable military struggle, possibly dragging the USA and its allies (read NZ) in to the conflagration. I have always seen the The Philippines as a peaceful nation, albeit with some serious issues within its borders. It has had problems in the south with separatists and Communists insurrections in other areas. They can ill-afford to enter into a war with China. Surely both nations have enough ‘calm heads’ to avoid such an ugly prospect.

I hope the reports are nothing more than just that--- the figment of politicians’ imaginations, vying for influence, both at home and abroad. I wish for dialogue and a real attempt to come to an agreement whereby both nations can benefit from the resources that they see as their own.

It is in no one’s interests for this to evolve into something that will be hard to pull back from. It has wider implications than South East Asia alone. The sleeping giant of Indonesia and its Malaysian neighbour will be looking on uncomfortably, whilst Vietnam will be perhaps wondering where they figure in this simmering dispute.

PULL BACK CHINA AND THE PHILIPPINES-----TALK!