China is Wise

By Apolinario Villalobos

Politics aside, I could say that China has utilized wisdom to the maximum in her effort to dominate the world. The country is the most populated nation on earth, hence, plenty of hands available for all kinds of job, making labor very much cheap. Historically, too, the nation has plenty of wise men, one of whom is Confucius, aside from scientists who invented many contraptions, even wooden nose sold to one of the members of the Magellan expedition to the Philippines in the 1500s.

With cheap labor, her enterprising citizens opened sweat shops for the manufacture of cheap goods, even going to the extent of counterfeiting brands that are originally made in distant Italy. Cellphones, especially, Nokia that is originally a Scandinavian product was not spared, as counterfeit models have been mass-produced, and ironically, with some models even made with better features, one of which is the ability to alter the voice of the caller! The international policy against forgery and fraud is proved no match to China. Product owners finally decided to open factories in China to give credence to the “made in China” mark. And, as the saying goes, the rest is history. So, today China prospers!...the first step for the rest of her endeavor.

China practically, has flooded the world with her produce – from toothpicks and cotton buds to the deadly weapons and jets. What materials that she does not have, she gets from other countries such as the mineral-laden sands and ores from the Philippines, a struggling country because of its corrupt political system. Tons of these sands are mined along the beaches of the coastal areas of the Philippines while residues laden with chemical from inland mines flow to the rivers and streams, decimating the fish population in the process.

In order to expand her boundaries, China went back to her history and cited names of islands on which her fishermen of long ago rested, and which are unfortunately being claimed by other Asians, too. She tested the temper of these claimants by first constructing a seemingly harmless beacon facility on one of the islands. When only whimpers from them have been heard, the facility was improved to become a fully- equipped island- barracks.

She eyed the other islands and still went on with tests for reactions if she does something, such as building of airstrip on one. There was a howl, but just that – a helpless howl from one of the claimant nations. Being helpless, coming from a fledgling member of an equally helpless organization of small countries, she went ahead with her massive reclamation…a success!

There are howls here and there, and complaints lodged somewhere, but China is furiously serious in claiming what she says is hers. Not even big nations can move, for how can they, with their huge debts that practically shackle them to her influence? China has finally, whipped the world with her economic clout!

Indeed, China is wise…starting with the lowly toothpick and cotton buds that the world needs she is now lording over the nations whose farms made way to condos and malls – agricultural nations who face starvation if they defy her!

Now, she is contemplating on building massive floating islands that shall become her moveable territorial boundaries in the Philippine Sea or rather, South China Sea, the better for her to show tangible proof that indeed, that body of water is hers!

Can the United Nations whose committees are manned by representatives from third world countries indebted to China, be wiser? Can the United States, the nation with self-determined destiny as guardian of other nations be wiser?  Will the defying acts of China that practically humiliate the United Nations, signal the latter’s “demise”?