Can America be trusted?
C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S |
Jonathan De la Cruz |
The question being asked as P-Noy prepares for his five-day state visit to China tomorrow is not so much the possible outcome of this trip. It is clear that despite the heated exchanges over the Spratlys including the misplaced and insensitive issuances spewed out by administration officials on the Luneta hostage tragedy, the Chinese will ever be the gracious hosts they have always been known to be. I am sure they will do all they can to give P-Noy and his huge entourage (is it true some 200 businessmen will accompany him on this trip?) all the courtesies and perks befitting a head of state. Thanks to their solid understanding of historical ties, the Chinese will shower P-Noy with loads of bacon in terms of investments, trade, aid and tourism packages as well as directed people-to-people exchanges.
But the test, the real question which will definitely hang over this visit, is whether P-Noy can summon the courage and the stamina to acknowledge that our country’s future will require balancing his decidedly pro-American tendencies with that of enhancing proper and responsible fraternal relations with China — our big neighbor and the world’s other emerging power. Which is precisely why in a previous column we noted that P-Noy and his advisers may be misreading the wave of the future by unduly hyping the Spratlys issue which is widely seen as a US induced “problem” while down playing if not totally ignoring the more immediate and, yes, solvable issues on hand such as those related to the Luneta fiasco. That is a No-No by any measure..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110829com4.html
0 comments
Post a Comment