Philippines and China at a crossroads

The current front pages of Philippine dailies are again headlining the incursions of China's biggest Coast Guard vessel in Philippine waters.

- ELFREN S. CRUZ

This so-called "monster vessel" has ignored requests to leave our exclusive economic zone and has even conveyed the message that these waters are part of China.

While the Philippines may seem preoccupied with these constant illegal incursions of China, the critical factor that we are still awaiting is any communication as to how Donald Trump views the South China Sea (SCS) situation. The Biden administration made it clear that the US was prepared to defend the Philippines in the event of any Chinese invasion.

Donald Trump and his administration have already made many statements regarding their foreign policy but has not said anything about our part of the world. It is, however, clear that Trump will not hesitate to interfere in the affairs of other countries in order to advance American interests.

For example, very recently, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau was forced to resign and Trump takes credit for this resignation. This political event happened after several announcements by Trump that he intends to impose tariffs on Canadian products. He even jokingly said that Canada might want to be the 51st state of the United States if it wants to avoid a trade war.

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who is now Trump's presidential adviser and alter ego, has also been publicly supporting extreme right parties in Europe. He has also publicly criticized the current prime minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, who is recognized as a left of center leader in Europe.