Pelosi Hijacks Biden’s War, To Win Votes In A Losing election?
THE Taiwan issue is dangerously shaping up to be a powder keg that can easily spiral into a Ukraine in Asia — Ukraine where tens of thousands have needlessly died and a beautiful land has turned into a war zone. Blood brothers are being turned into lifetime enemies through encouragements for war that could have been prevented by the simple enforcement of internationally-signed Minsk agreements. Ukraine and the EU were open to implementation in 2022, but were prevented by the US and the UK, and their proxy, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
Why is Pelosi provoking international tensions in Taiwan when the Democrats are losing voters in droves, and her districts have among the highest number of homeless people — in the thousands? Her husband has been accused of millions of dollars in insider trading on stocks related to Taiwan, and she refuses to comment on her husband’s drunk driving, drugs issues and crashing his Porsche two months ago? Some would attribute her action as a move by her and Democrats partially to divert American voters’ attention from their domestic and international string of failures, a way to win votes for the November elections where the Democrats are likely to lose heavily.
For a backgrounder, especially for uninformed “think-tanks,” pseudo “experts” on YouTube, and their easily impressed but unknowing audience, Taiwan is part of an unfinished civil “war” and agreed with the People’s Republic of China for decades that there is only one China, and in fact had been planning for decades to invade and retake over the mainland. It is not a separate country as all the history books will show, even domestic Taiwan public documents and books, but now being revised in schools.
China has not turned from peaceful to military means in preference as being spread by some supposed “experts” who only echo the script of the US’ war industry. It is the efforts of the US to delink Taiwan that might force the option before the separation may become de facto, especially with education, discussion and information on Taiwan now being limited to the ruling party line — erasing the common history of a people who were already moving toward uniting, even among the original rebel parties of the Kuomintang who were on the road to reuniting peacefully until Japan and US influence on politics intervened in Taiwan.
Under the circumstances of pro-separation increased influence and established control, it is true that the tide of popular sentiment of the young, being miseducated and selectively informed, turns more and more toward separation. Territorial integrity is a complex issue that can be addressed another time, and if the principles are to be used, must be applied with consistency across all peoples.
The world should learn from standard operating procedures of the US, and more recent events, of “officials visits,” that would include numerous unenforced verbal promises, benefits whose conditions require giving up decision making by the client nation, and joining actions against others that the nations have no interests in, or be faced with threats and destabilization.
In 2010, then secretary of state Hillary Clinton went to Ukraine in 2010 promoting “democracy,” encouraging them to join NATO. And in 2013, the late senator McCain went to Kyiv making public speeches to people that the US and Europe will support them going against their democratically elected government, but without addressing the genocidal attacks on the ethnic Russians, curtailment of the use of their language, and using the militarist, frequently violent, racist Azov battalions.
Pelosi also met with the leaders of the Hong Kong protests before the violent protests erupted in Hong Kong, and CIA-linked NED “donated” millions of dollars to anti-government groups in Hong Kong — the same group that funds Rappler and VERA Files in the Philippines.
When the violent protesters in Hong Kong were burning public properties and beating up pedestrians who were not joining their movement, Pelosi called the Hong Kong protests “a beautiful sight to behold” but would criticize the relatively nonviolent storming of the US Capitol as a “threat to democracy” and called for forceful security.
The US, the UK and often NATO also supported insurrections in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Venezuela and other countries, and bombed Yugoslavia for three months into supporting its split into several countries. But there is no such support for separatist or simple autonomy movements today in countries of allies in Asia, Middle East or Europe.
Pelosi had an unannounced visit to Kyiv to meet with Zelenskyy in the middle of the Ukraine and Russia conflict, followed by billions of dollars in additional US weapons delivery to Ukraine (much old arms on “lend lease” offer, although arms sent to Philippines are older, and subject to US approval of use), while telling the world that Moscow is the aggressor.
Would the US allow Beijing or Moscow officials to meet with the protestors of the State Capitol or the leaders of the Black Lives Matter or other sectors, and send billions of dollars in military “assistances,” missiles, tanks, attack copters to anti-government groups in the US, and then warn the world that any US reaction or escalation will be “on the US.”
Will the Philippines allow the US to support its rebels militarily, financially and through the media, and surround rebels with armed protection?
We in the Philippines have, in fact, allowed the US and other countries to do similarly to that before, regularly, even recently, involving the US and Asean neighbors and other countries supporting and training, making political deals with our rebels against the Philippine state. But increasingly, Russia and China, even some of the nations in the Mideast like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela, India, Poland, Hungary, etc. are now asserting independent foreign, yet non hostile, policies versus the US… will the Philippines ?
The Philippines must be more vigilant and circumspect. In addition to its one-sided treaty alliance with the US, the late former president Benigno Aquino 3rd also made the Philippines a US military aircraft carrier with EDCA. For now, the Marcos administration and the Department of Foreign Affairs have repeatedly announced that the Philippines remain committed to the One China policy and urges restraint by all parties concerned: “Diplomacy and dialogue must prevail.”
Blinken’s visit to Manila following Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan forecasts brewing storms ahead.
Dr. Mario Ferdinand Pasion is director of Phil-BRICS Strategic Studies and the chairman of Nationalist Filipinos Against Foreign Intervention.
A similar version was published in Manila Times on August 07 2022. We welcome logical feedback and possibly working together with compatible frameworks. (idsicenter@gmail.com)