From Bully To Big Brother ECONOMIC GIANT CHINA NEEDS TO REVIEW ITS FOREIGN POLICY

By Manny Pinol

It is entirely unthinkable and unimaginable how China, without a doubt one of the richest countries in the world today and home to great philosopher Confucius and brilliant military strategist Sun Tzu, could commit a grievous foreign policy blunder in dealing with its neighbors in Southeast Asia.

By claiming the entire South China Sea, part of which is the West Philippine Sea, and the small and uninhabited atolls and islets that dot the wide body of water, China has pitted itself against its smaller neighbors including its break-away territory Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.

In the northern portion of Japan, China is also locked in a bitter feud over a group of small islands which the Japanese call Senkaku.

In an action so uncharacteristic of the iconic Chinese persona of a friendly neighborhood trader who flashes a toothy smile, patient, accommodating and diplomatic in dealing with his clients, China, the economic giant, is behaving like a bully and shoving and pushing his smaller neighbors to the point where they are fighting back.

With this actuation, China is squandering a golden opportunity of playing the role of a Big Brother in a region where the smaller agriculture-based nations are looking for a friendly trading partner for their products.

China is effectively pushing its smaller neighbors to the waiting arms of America which, wary of China’s growing economic power, has refocused its foreign policy directions on rebuilding and strengthening old alliances with Japan and the Philippines and warming up relations with a previously antagonistic Malaysia.

America, definitely, is grinning from ear to ear as China commits the big blunder of antagonizing its smaller Southeast Asian neighbors.

Proof to this was the recent visit of American President Barack Obama to the Southeast Asian region where he emphasized that the United States of America would stand by its allies in their territorial disputes with China.

China should start to seriously rethink of the way it is dealing with its neighbors.

The touchy, and possibly incendiary, dispute in the South China Sea could be approached by China differently where it could invite its smaller neighbors to a joint-venture effort in utilizing whatever resources could be utilized from the area.

Anyway, if there is oil in the area China’s smaller neighbors would only be too happy to sell their shares to their benevolent neighbor China.

Besides, a China which is friendly to Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines could be assured of a steady supply of whatever agricultural products these countries offer – bananas, sugar, coconut oil, sea products, rubber, palm oil and many other commodities that the Chinese market needs.

In exchange, China could consider these countries as captive markets for its low cost products, especially electronic gadgets and household appliances, including its trucks and cars.

That China is not playing its diplomatic cards the way they should be played is a big mystery that baffles foreign observers.

But it is a mystery which other superpowers like America would rather see remain unresolved.

A China which is friendly with its smaller neighbors and acts like a Big Brother rather than a Bully will certainly dominate trade and commerce in the Southeast Asian region.

That is what scares America and the other superpowers.

Unfortunately for the Chinese people, their leaders now have forgotten the teachings of Confucius and ignored the brilliant strategies of Sun Tzu in achieving victory without so much of an effort.

(Photo credit: This PDI photo shows a Chinese vessel spraying water cannon on a Vietnamese boat.)