China Asean Meeting – A case study on deceit and conspiracy

China and Asean just concluded a meeting in Kunming and as usual a lot of red faces. Asean issued a tough statement on the disputes in the South China Sea island claims but promptly retracted it on the excuse that it was sent out in error. The first statement read, ‘We expressed our serious concerns over recent and ongoing developments, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and which may have the potential to undermine peace, security and stability in the South China Sea.’

And the truth, two Asean countries have rejected the Asean statement that could only be issued when there is a consensus.  What is pertinent to this jumping the gun statement is that it revealed whose hands were behind this rush to send out the statement. For sure China has only two friends in Asean and a few fence sitters but several arch foes that would be sticking with the Americans. In this case some arch foes of China are Muslim states but willing to cosy up with Muslim killers for the greed of grabbing a piece of the South China Sea.

China would be interested to know who are these foes, who initiated the crafting of the statement, who authorized to send it out quickly, who is the party that did the sending, and who did the retracting.  It is not difficult for China to know the real happenings as it is reported in the media today with a Singaporean journalist calling Cambodia and Laos as Trojan horses of China. The journalist even warned these two states of cost and consequences. The pro American lackeys and the Trojan horses are standing up to be counted. This is like open cards in a poker game. Now China could identify very clearly who is doing what and should know what to do and dispense its cost and consequences as well. The whole episode is political and ‘either you are with us or against us’ depending on which superpower the Asean states have aligned with.

There is also another lesson to be learnt. Asean countries have very short memories and would often love the party that looted and raped their countries, killed and murdered their people and humiliated them by colonizing them. Many of the Asean states were colonies and are still in love with their colonial masters. Some like Vietnam and the Philippines were ravaged by the Americans but are still madly in love with the Americans, with the Japanese Imperialists that massacred their people. China had done nothing but is being seen as enemy to these countries.

The moral of the story is that China must not fear offending these Asean states. China must stand up to its right in the South China Sea and kick asses if needed be. Once China has taught the asses a real lesson in how to behave, after some time, they would love China like they love the Americans and the Japanese. So China need not be sensitive and fear offending asses. Kick them real hard, they only understand when they are kicked hard, and would turn around to kiss China’s arse.

That is the lesson to be learnt from Asean history and their predictable behavior. Trying to be nice and polite to them would be seen as weak and would make them think they are a force to be reckoned with and they could push China around. If China needs a live lesson, just watch the current shadow play between Singapore and Indonesia and Malaysia and the USA. The loser would definitely turn around to kiss the arse of the bully when the bully stood firm and kick asses.

That is the way to deal with Asean states or they will get swelled headed, punching above their weights. That’s what they have been deluding themselves with the might of the Americans behind them and goading them to take on China.