Prepare for the Worst

By Erick San Juan

Predictions for 2017 – Year of the Fire Rooster, don’t bode well for China. Although the Fire Rooster is the sign of dawn and awakening, it is said, “The union of the Fire elements with the Rooster’s Metal during 2017 will create great tensions, this will create an electric atmosphere that will intensify the actions of the leaders of several nations and in the economies that will generate even more deterioration in the political climate. Further migration is thought to be caused by strong wars and climate change. It is predicted that some governments will take a tough line of mandate, there will be a lot of authoritarianism and there will be many threats of various kinds that could be the cause of more clashes between nations.” (Source: China’s colonization of the Philippines by Perry Diaz)

Is this the reason why 2017 could be the year of the next global war based on the Chinese calendar and most probably Pres. Xi Jinping of China will start it? What could be the driving force that might start another war? Just asking.

In my past article where I tackled the Chinese Dream that will be the force to push Xi to make China great again, here is what Perry Diaz said in his article – “When Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, he immediately pursued his “Chinese Dream,” which is the revival of imperial China that had maintained Chinese hegemony in Asia during the reign of the Ming Dynasty. “The great revival of the Chinese nation is the greatest Chinese Dream,” Xi said before taking office.

Two years later, China started building seven artificial islands on top of reefs and shoals in the Spratly archipelago. Upon completion, the Chinese built airfields that could accommodate large aircraft and deep harbors where Chinese warships could dock.

With the militarization of these islands, which are less than 200 miles away from the province of Palawan, Chinese forces are now at the doorsteps of the Philippines ready to strike when the time is ripe.”

Unfortunately this year might be ripe enough to annex the Philippines and Taiwan. Strategic analysts believe that China needs an external war to unite the Chinese people as Xi tries desperately to stay in power while the unhappy members of the Chinese Politburo tries to replace him.

“The weakening of China’s economy and its increasing belligerence are occurring in tandem, and the progression from one to the other appears to be related. For one thing, a deteriorating economy will undermine Xi Jinping’s bold efforts to consolidate power, and the resulting disunity will surely make China’s external posture unpredictable.

The country could turn inward, but lashing out looks more probable, especially if Chinese leaders think the decline in the economy will close a window of opportunity to achieve historic goals, like enlargement of Chinese control over neighboring lands and peripheral seas.

China’s economy is moving in wrong directions. In many ways, the rest of the world is bound to suffer as a result.” (Source: Is China’s Economy Past the Point of No Return? By Gordon G. Chang)

We should be wary and help the Duterte administration realize that getting too close to China is not a good idea and will only put us all in danger of a possible annexation of China. Pres. Duterte seems gypped to believe that the biggest threat to his post is his Vice president Leni Robredo and the ‘yellows’. He has to review the movie, “Star Wars3”, to realize his predicament. Plus Bongbong Marcos is itching to replace VP Leni, prelude in getting Malacanang as leverage to global bankers and other country claimants to their not so hidden loot kept at British Virgin Islands as exposed by Panama Papers.

And as what I have been warning of the presence of sleepers here, Perry writes “according to a reliable source in Manila, most of the Chinoys (short for Chinese-Filipinos) are patriotic and loyal to the Philippine flag. However, some of them are believed to be pro-China “sleepers” ready to act when called upon by their PLA handlers. Some of them are sons of rich ethnic taipans who sent them to China to study. Allegedly, some of them took PLA officer’s training. It is also alleged that units of the PLA have already infiltrated the country posing as investors, casino operators and worst Chinese Triad underworld boss.

It is interesting to note that prior to the outbreak of World War II, thousands of Japanese nationals were working in the Philippines. Many of them were sleepers and once war broke out, they put on their military uniforms and joined the invading Japanese forces.

Meanwhile, the anti-communist forces in the Philippines have organized themselves as the “Save Our Soldier” Movement. Interestingly, the acronym for “Save Our Soldier” is SOS, which is the international code signal of extreme distress and an urgent appeal for help. The question is: Is the SOS Movement poised and ready to act if Duterte forms a pro-communist revolutionary government? One can only surmise that the probability increased due to recent confluence of events.”

A very dangerous and frightening scenario that we hope will not happen. God help us.