Partners

With US President Barack Obama visiting Manila for the first time today, we’re talking again of the need to make our alliance with Uncle Sam a mature partnership among equals.

Obviously we can’t match this partner on certain terms; it’s the world’s lone superpower and largest economy.

But the mature partnership can be based on mutual interests, on the shared values and aspirations of two freedom-loving societies.

It’s a partnership that should have moved on from the colonial-era dependence of “little brown brother” on others for many of its needs including external defense.

As we forge a new security arrangement with Washington, can we avoid a return of this dependence?

America has its own problems, and it surely prefers allies that can stand on their own feet.

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In some ways bilateral ties have matured, with the US government gradually becoming less involved in Philippine internal affairs.

After playing a key role in the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos, the US continued to be directly involved in quelling attempts to unseat Corazon Aquino. There was also some American support for EDSA II, but doubts were starting to set in about the usefulness of people power in nurturing a fragile democracy.

Throughout the tumultuous Arroyo presidency, when US troops returned for the first time since their bases were shut down, Washington remained involved in our domestic politics, but kept a low profile.

By the time Benigno Aquino III assumed power, US officials told me Philippine democracy had become stable enough and they no longer saw any scenario where they might be called in to intervene in domestic affairs.

What we’ve done instead is to call them for help in external matters.

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As in the first legs of his Asian tour, China will cast a long shadow during Obama’s two-day visit here.

By now Obama must have heard a hundred versions of the question: how far is Uncle Sam willing to go in defending its allies against the fire-breathing dragon?

And the answer, as several US officials have told me in the past years, is likely to be the same: Washington can’t say, because no one knows what Beijing will do to stake its territorial claims. It’s not going to war, as emphasized last week by new Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua.

Obama is expected to reiterate his government’s commitment to come to the defense of its allies, particularly treaty allies such as the Philippines, Japan and South Korea.

His Pinoy fans must remember, however, that in June last year, Obama had rolled out the red carpet for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the plush (and secure) Rancho Mirage in the California desert.

Last month First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha followed this up with soft diplomacy, visiting Beijing and again meeting with Xi. They aren’t with the US president on this trip.

America’s pivot to Asia is a balancing act, seeking to reassure its jittery allies in the region while at the same time promoting good relations with the world’s second largest economy.

Surely contributing to the US “rebalancing” is Chinese official opinion, expressed in state-controlled media, about what Beijing thinks of its pesky neighbors and America.

One example is an opinion piece dated Sept. 29, 2011 in the Global Times, a tabloid published by the state-run People’s Daily. The article declared that it was “time to teach those around South China Sea a lesson,” with “punishment… restricted only to the Philippines and Vietnam, who have been acting extremely aggressively these days.”

The writer, described as the strategic analyst of China Energy Fund Committee, declared: “I think US pressure in the South China Sea should not be taken seriously, at least for now given the war on terror in the Middle East and elsewhere is plaguing it hard.”

And my favorite line: “The Philippines, pretending to be weak and innocent, declared that mosquitoes are not wary of the power of the Chinese elephant.”

The article urged the Chinese to “make good preparations for a small-scale battle while giving the other side the option of war or peace.”

This piece came out before Xi came to power, so we don’t know if it still reflects Chinese official thinking. Beijing keeps telling the world that there is nothing to fear about its “peaceful rise,” but its recent actions have not been reassuring.

It’s not the first time that I’ve heard that line about the Philippines pretending to be weak. The world must be seeing something that we don’t; Pinoys were incredulous that the country was ranked 37th among 106 in terms of military firepower.

A Chinese official once lamented to me, seriously, that they felt they were being bullied by the Philippines. I didn’t laugh. Left unsaid was the basis for the Chinese perception, which is that Uncle Sam is behind the mosquito “bullying” the elephant.

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Now the US is increasing its military presence in the region, and reviving old perceptions of security ties.

Lost in the US pivot and the emphasis on security and economic issues is the need to base alliances on shared values and common objectives.

China thinks the concept of universal human rights is a Western imposition on societies that are different. Reaching out to the West, the Chinese also argue that co-existence is possible between democracies and societies that put economic prosperity (or freedom from poverty) ahead of civil liberties.

In the past three decades, the US and other democracies have largely gone along with this. Criticism of human rights violations in China and its annexation of Tibet have also been muted following America’s own problems with human rights as it waged the war on terror. “Operation Enduring Freedom” gave freedom a bad name.

Because of China’s rapid economic rise, its system rather than unwieldy Western democracy has become the model of development for several emerging economies with authoritarian regimes.

The growing rivalry in the Asia-Pacific is not just about military power but also values and aspirations, which include good neighborliness and respect for international rules. It is about a way of life.

Filipinos share these values of freedom with Japan and South Korea, two hosts of US military bases. Like Britain, which continues to host US air bases in East Anglia, the Japanese and Koreans generally do not see their sovereignty threatened by American military presence.

These common values and aspirations are the best foundations for a strong partnership, which should involve reciprocity and mutual trust.