i said this without the blind breast beating of the China issue. i was right. Tatad points it out brilliantly: Certain historical incidents, which have been preserved in the nation’s memory, should have cautioned Aquino against stepping into that delicate domestic situation. He should have reminded himself that because of his distinct family background, he needed to tread very gently in dealing with Japan. The sins of the parents are usually visited upon the children: during the war, Aquino’s late paternal grandfather famously collaborated with the Japanese when they occupied the Philippines. After the war, he was arrested in Tokyo by the Americans and taken to Sugamo prison as a Japanese collaborator. He was repatriated to Manila to be tried for treason, but unhappily died while watching a boxing match at the Rizal Memorial Stadium before trial could begin. This detail might yet be used against Aquino in trying to figure out why he was so quick to endorse Abe’s plan to drop the anti-war provision in Article 9. He has already been called an American lackey, he does not deserve to be called a Japanese puppet too. Beyond that, some basic questions must be asked and answered. First of all, how will a rearmed Japan affect the current arms race, the competition for marine and energy resources at the seabed, the real balance of power in Asia and the Pacific? Amid the threat of war in various parts of the world, how will it enhance the brave efforts of so many men and nations to create what the German-born Helga Zepp-La Rouche called “a world without war”, during a recent Schiller Institute forum in New York? How will the rest of East Asia, not just China and North Korea, receive Japan as a “comebacking” military power? Aquino may or may not have a decent answer to these questions. But at the highest level of public discourse, knowing what to say and what not to say is next only to knowing when to speak and when not to speak. One shouldn’t speak out of turn even if one could avoid speaking nonsense. This is an irreducible minimum requirement for heads of state. With a small pinch of knowledge of international relations and statecraft, Aquino could have avoided making that completely avoidable statement in Japan, if only in deference to his hosts. But perhaps the fault is ours----we tend to expect too much. Next time, if there is a next time, we shouldn’t expect anything. We should expect to be embarrassed.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 03:07:37 +0000
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