Hey China! Don't you know that today is 12/21/12?

news is filtering in that China and Japan is having a new round of confrontation in the Senkakus... it seems that China's ships have entered Japan's territorial waters and are refusing to leave... Japan has scrambled fighter-bombers as a precautionary measure... those Mayan stone-carvers must be holding their breaths in anticipation... up there... in the Happy Hunting Grounds...

The 1937 sinking of the USS Panay - the first step in the long bloody journey to Hiroshima and Nagasaki...

On 12 December 1937 (almost 4 years before Pearl Harbor), Japanese naval aircraft were ordered by their Army to attack "any and all ships" in the Yangtze above Nanking.  Knowing of the presence of the USS Panay and her merchantmen, the Imperial Japanese Navy requested verification of the order, which was received before the attack began about 13:27 that day.  Although there were several large American flags flown on the ship under the command of Lt. Commander James J. Hughes, as well as one painted atop the cabin, the Japanese planes continued strafing and bombing.  Panay was hit by two of the eighteen 60 kg (130 lb) bombs dropped by three Yokosuka B4Y Type-96 bombers and strafed by nine Nakajima A4N Type-95 fighters. The bombing continued until the Panay sank at 15:54. Three sailors were killed, with 43 sailors and five civilian passengers wounded.

Two newsreel cameramen were present on Panay, Norman Alley (Universal News) and Eric Mayell (Movietone News), and were able to take considerable film during the attack and afterward from the shore as the Panay sank in the middle of the river.  (The newsreels are now available online at usspanay.org)

A formal protest was immediately lodged by the American ambassador.  The Japanese government accepted responsibility, but insisted the attack was unintentional.  They claimed that the pilots could not distinguish between Chinese and American flags from the distance of 300 or more yards that the pilots attacked. A large indemnity was paid (approximately $2,000,000, which is equal to $33,021,277 today) on 22 April 1938 and the incident officially settled. However, further deterioration of relations between Japan and the United States continued. (source: Wikipedia)

With the benefit of hindsight, it appears that the weak US response to this attack erroneously emboldened the Empire of Japan vis-a-vis US appetite for an all-out war.  And they subsequently paid dearly for this geopolitical miscalculation with Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

If you see some kind of parallelism with these past events and the on-going potential flashpoints instigated by China in both NE and SE Asia, you are not alone...

America is historically a slow starter, as far as all-out wars are concerned... but once the American War Machine is unleashed, it is virtually unstoppable...

So before Beijing entertains any nasty thoughts on initiating offensive military action against the FON (Freedom of Navigation) operations of  Uncle Sam in the Spratlys (as she has been publicly mouthing lately through her Orwellian annoncements), she should revisit the story of the USS Panay... there is a (nuclear) lesson there somewhere...

The USS Panay was named after Panay Island of the Philippines...

Remembering Pearl Harbor...

Pearl Harbor is a stark reminder to the wannabe imperialists in Beijing on the perils of underestimating American resolve in the Western Pacific... what initially appeared to be a tragic day for America... was actually the Big Bang which propelled it to Superpower status... and was the Death Knell which heralded the beginning of the end for the Empire of Japan...

But looking back... had Pearl Harbor not happened... would the fate of the Filipino People have been much more different?...

1941 Redux...

just like in 1941... the Philippines is once again a poorly-defended country without strategic depth that is facing a gargantuan aggressor... but as the Empire of Japan tragically discovered in WWII, invading the Philippines is one thing... holding on to it is another... we are not just another Manchuria or Tibet... the Western socio-cultural ties of the Philippines will guarantee that Beijing's imperial dreams will meet a tragic end at the bottom of the West Philippine Sea... if they dare move militarily against us...

A Chinese proverb for the Overlords of Beijing...

What if the Panatag Shoal Crisis is just a "Wag the Dog" tactic?

if the Panatag Shoal crisis is just a "wag the dog" tactic of Beijing's overlords to strengthen national unity... by creating a "we against the world" atmosphere in the country (remember Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution?)... it will fail... primarily on the grounds of credibility... Mao's Long March Generation was never hounded by fat offshore bank account allegations... and does not have online social media to contend with...

as the Chinese Communist Party has correctly identified recently... the biggest threat to the People's Republic are not its neighbors... it is CORRUPTION IN HIGH PLACES...

diverting the attention of the Chinese masses from this problem... by deliberately instigating "Wag the Dog" conflicts with China's neighbors... will not only... not make the problem go away... but will create more problems... enough problems to potentially push the People's Republic over the abyss of political disintegration... and worse... maybe even total annihilation...

i hope the overlords of Beijing can spell B-A-L-K-A-N-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N... or H-I-R-O-S-H-I-M-A...

A picture paints a thousand words...

Here Comes PATO!

"Mrs. Clinton’s foray into the South Pacific to pivot U.S. foreign policy toward Asia is clearly an attempt to re-create another defunct Cold War-era alliance, the South East Asia treaty Organization (SEATO), which was composed of the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, France, and Pakistan. The transformation of NATO into PATO – the Pacific-Atlantic Treaty Organization – is, like the former CENTO and SEATO, directed against China and Russia". [Wayne Madsen, Strategic Culture Foundation, 09/07/2012]

As currently envisioned, PATO will include most Pacific Island Forum states (i.e. Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Palau, Vanuatu, Nauru, Tonga, etc.).

The circling of wagons in the Pacific... 21st Century Edition... has begun...

NOT AT OUR EXPENSE!!!

almost six (6) months had passed since we pulled-out all of our naval assets from Panatag Shoal... did Beijing reciprocate the gesture?... of course not!

we have totally misread the real underlying cause of Beijing's recent bellicose behavior at the Shoal... it is not about corals, clams, sea turtles or fishing rights... it is not about oil or natural gas...

it is all about a paradigm shift on how Beijing sees itself vis-a-vis the rest of the world...

and this was summed up by Beijing's overlords in just six (6) words: CHINA MUST BECOME A MARITIME POWER

against the backdrop of such self-actualization goal... our recent diplomatic initiative are mere flies in Beijing's ointment... annoying?... yes... but with a dip of a solitary finger can easily be flicked into the wind... and ignored...

it is, therefore, now time for the National Leadership of the Philippine Republic to try another tack in addressing the Shoal dispute... and that is to send our naval assets back to the Shoal...

this will send a clear message to Beijing that... although we wish them all the luck in the pursuit of their geopolitical ambitions...

it will not be achieved at the expense of the territorial integrity of OUR REPUBLIC!