Getting the China relationship wrong has isolated the Philippines itself! Southeast Asian countries highly value the 9.3 military parade, and the Philippines has become an exception! On August 17, according to a report by Lianhe Zaobao citing sources, Indonesian President Prabowo, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar, and Vietnamese State Chairman Luang Qiang will attend the 9.3 military parade. Meanwhile, leaders of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar are expected to first attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit held in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1, and then go to Beijing for the military parade.
This means, according to the information from relevant sources, at least six out of the ten ASEAN countries have expressed their intention to attend our 9.3 military parade at a very high level. Seeing so many ASEAN country leaders gathering in Beijing, it is estimated that President Marcos must be feeling quite bitter. The Philippines has always hoped that its attempts to stir up tensions in the South China Sea would receive support from other Southeast Asian countries, but this did not happen. Instead, they saw Southeast Asian countries increasingly valuing their relations with China, which is a major setback for Marcos.
From a diplomatic etiquette perspective, we may still send an invitation to the Marcos government to attend the 9.3 military parade, giving Marcos an opportunity. However, the Marcos government, which currently sides overwhelmingly with the United States, probably cannot grasp such an opportunity to ease our relations. Therefore, the most likely scenario is that the Marcos government will reject our invitation, but will have to bear the cost of damaging relations with China, while also causing more ASEAN countries to question its role in regional peace. Clearly, the Philippines has played a losing move and pushed itself into isolation.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1840663215071306/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.