Two Philippine supply boats have breached a Chinese coast guard blockade in the South China Sea in a recurring confrontation near a disputed shoal some fear could spark a larger security crisis that could draw in the United States.
China didn’t do the former, or at least their actions didn’t match their words. Duterte gave them an opening to improve relations, when his presidency began in 2016. China took the olive branches and began exploiting the Philippines to the hilt, including ramping up their actions around the Scarborough Shoal. All through this period, Chinese diplomats were in Wolf Warrior mode, sneering at and insulting their southeast asian counterparts at every opportunity. It was so bad that the US, under Donald Trump’s presidency, ended up looking like the more reasonable alternative.
Eventually, even Duterte got exasperated. And now the Chinese are having a shocked Pikachu face moment as the Philippines asks the US for more help.
All of which is to say that Xi is not a very smart man. He was handed a once in a generation opportunity to tease the Philippines out of the US orbit. All the Chinese had to do was be nice to their neighbors. And they completely bungled it.
China didn’t do the former, or at least their actions didn’t match their words. Duterte gave them an opening to improve relations, when his presidency began in 2016. China took the olive branches and began exploiting the Philippines to the hilt, including ramping up their actions around the Scarborough Shoal. All through this period, Chinese diplomats were in Wolf Warrior mode, sneering at and insulting their southeast asian counterparts at every opportunity. It was so bad that the US, under Donald Trump’s presidency, ended up looking like the more reasonable alternative.
Eventually, even Duterte got exasperated. And now the Chinese are having a shocked Pikachu face moment as the Philippines asks the US for more help.
All of which is to say that Xi is not a very smart man. He was handed a once in a generation opportunity to tease the Philippines out of the US orbit. All the Chinese had to do was be nice to their neighbors. And they completely bungled it.
What authoritarianism does to a mf