By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
One of the most strategic minds of the past six decades, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is painting a doomsday scenario if tensions between the United States and China should escalate. It doesn’t require a minimum IQ for us here in the Philippines to realize we’re right smack in the middle of this already.
Over the weekend, the 97-year-old former national security adviser took the time to warn the world that it cannot afford an all-out conflict between the two superpowers. He says the risks are just too high, citing both countries’ superior strength economically, technologically, and militarily – which includes nuclear arsenals that are generations more advanced now than ever.
Should they clash, every nation would be directly or indirectly affected – Filipinos, being “citizens of the world,” most especially. Kissinger said the stakes don’t even compare to the Cold War when the nuclear arms race polarized America and the old Soviet Union.
Now, the nuclear issue is added with the high-tech issue of artificial intelligence. “Its essence is based on the fact that man becomes a partner of machines and that machines can develop their own judgment,” said Kissinger. And so, he contends that: “For the first time in human history, humanity has the capacity to extinguish itself in a finite period of time.”
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For the Philippines – being an ally of the US and friend to China – the West Philippine Sea is an obvious flashpoint that cannot be ignored, cannot be taken lightly, and cannot be confronted cowardly.
This issue of disputing claims with China over maritime territories in the South China Sea has to reach a solution, or it, too, will be like a fuse of a bomb waiting to detonate whatever strings that hold the peace between Beijing and Washington together – at least, in our side of the globe.
I am no Kissinger, and that might be too much for me to conclude, but I will say it just the same. Our President cannot just lean on his own understanding. In addition to heeding the voices of reason within and outside his administration, Duterte must seek the wisdom of leaders of other nations that are similarly caught up in the trappings of a budding China-US conflict.
Even for America, the challenge of dealing with China is difficult. According to Kissinger, the task requires a two-pronged US policy toward Beijing – which is to stand firm on US principles to demand China’s respect; and maintain constant dialogue to find areas of cooperation.
In like manner, our country’s resolve to protect our territories in the West Philippine Sea against incursions from Chinese maritime militia vessels must be firm. Otherwise, we command no respect at all from China nor hold a candle to other nations willing to support our cause.
If Kissinger warns that a US-China collision would bring the world to a colossal end, then our friction-causing WPS predicament is an issue that should concern all other countries. Our responsibility is to bring this boiling issue that unsettles US-China ties before the global stage to be addressed multilaterally.
By doing so, we might even save the world from a doomsday scenario. But first, we as a nation must get to convince our President to come out of his peephole.
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