I think it was a betrayal, he got just a state visit to China and was given the honour of being the first foreign visit of the year. China has to show the world backstabbing Xi has a price to pay. Looking at China's recent warnings (livestream of island making machine), and China's official responses it seems like Scarborough Shoal will get some new additions very soon.
Some of our members on this forum are overly optimistic about China-Philippines relations, I hope they stay far away from US bases for the next few years.
Not optimistic but pragmatic and rationale on the part of the Philippines and it's corrupt politicians and political system. I was and am clinging to some sliver of hope that Philippine leadership can be reasoned with and see the gloom, devastating outlook that awaits them if it were to join the anti-China club most especially with respect to the non negotiable sovereign issue of China vis-a-vis Taiwan.
But, perhaps my hope has always been a fool's hope since realistically speaking the only way to make those American boot licking and western indoctrinated people and leaders to understand is through HARD POWER.
There's a persistent belief that the Philippines will be protected and defended by America's superior military and fighting prowess, and the tendency to dismiss, downplay even Chinese PLA fighting force and fighting ability. It's due to information depravity, historical whitewashing, deletion of Chinese fighting prowess from the Chinese modern Civil War, the Korean War, the 1962 Indo-China, war, the Soviet-China War of 1969, Sino-Vietnam War of 1979. There's hardly anything of objective value informing the civilian and military leaders alike in the Philippines of those important events happened in China. The events and lessons are almost all exclusively learned from and through the lens of the American perspective, while the Chinese Views are whittled down to mere ideological prism of evil commie and benevolent American political system.
Decades of total indoctrination in the Philippines by its colonial master will always be a difficult tract for China to remove let alone minimize since the country has until only recently been seen as an economic power. I don't know what the future holds between the Philippines and China, but I know it won't be pretty for the Philippines. Death and Destruction awaits them if it is foolish enough to be used as one of the cannon fodder for American hegemony.
Manila BULLETIN (PRO AMERICA)
Singapore CNA (PRO AMERICA)
ABS-CBN (PRO AMERICA)
