The word the Associated Press used to describe North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) chief Jens Stoltenberg’s declaration Thursday, April 20, 2023, that Ukraine deserves to join the military alliance during his visit to Kyiv was “defiantly.”
Why?
Because he knew it was wrong, unnecessary and irresponsible?
Ukraine continues to be under siege by its more powerful northern neighbor Russia, which invaded the country over a year ago on the pretext that Russians and Ukrainians should be under one flag because of centuries of shared history and culture.
Did Stoltenberg then add fuel to an already raging fire? What do you think?
On the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “that preventing Ukraine from joining Nato remains one of the goals of what Moscow calls its ‘special military operation.’”
I think it’s no secret that Russia considers Ukraine to be inherently under its sphere of influence.
For more than a thousand years, until the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the two belonged to one country. At first Russia was part of Ukraine and then Ukraine became part of Russia. It’s a discombobulated past that both sides had learned to live with. Otherwise, the union wouldn’t have lasted so long.
Was it always peaceful? Of course, not. But in the end, Kyiv always returned to the Russian fold. By hook or by crook.
If Nato forces the issue, then it will have to be prepared to bear the consequences of its action.
So why am I discussing something that is thousands of kilometers away from our neck of the woods?
Closer to home is the matter of mainland China’s relationship with Taiwan as well as the former’s encroachment on a portion of the South China Sea called the West Philippine Sea, which refers to waters included in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The United States has forged an alliance and has established military bases in countries that China continues to deem as an integral part of its territory or had once considered to be its vassal states or under its sphere of influence.
The United States already considers China a rival and a threat. What’s to stop it from launching an invasion from one of these countries?
It’s no wonder then China is arming itself to the teeth. Already it has the world’s largest army and navy. And with a population of more than a billion, it can well afford to spare a few men and women in case war breaks out.
However, despite the Chinese incursions on Philippine “waters,” I do not think China poses a direct threat to the Philippines or to the region as a whole. I think we all know that that was never the problem.
The US and the West have a habit of stoking regional fires to serve their vast military-industrial complex.