THE “Sinogandists” (Sino-propagandists), as I call them, are at it per an opinion article of May 30, 2024, by the “Our Common Wealth 670 — a grassroots non-profit organization”: the article titled “Fear mongering is not a sound security policy for the CNMI (or the rest of the Pacific).”
The Sinogandists played the victim part of Sino-phobic fear mongering by the U.S. “militarization” of the CNMI and other parts of the Pacific… they said that Sinophobia is about “[t]he renewed fear mongering about the People’s Republic of China [Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-run government] as a major enemy of the U.S. sets a dangerous precedent for how we can respond to the tensions we see surrounding us in the CNMI” that is “ [r]ooted in a long history of Sinophobia (fear, dislike or hate of China or anyone and anything from China) and “yellow peril” ideologies in the U.S., contemporary anti-China rhetoric is on the rise and it’s being used to motivate public opinion to garner support for U.S. policies that may not necessarily benefit our community.”
“Phobia” is commonly understood to mean the irrational fear of something, like hydrophobia, arachibutyrophobia. and xenophobia, etc., and so the Sinogandists got it all wrong. There is simply no “fear, dislike or hate of China or anyone and anything from China.” It is, however, the CCP’s determination to push out the Philippines from its claims to several islands in the West Philippine Sea and the professed inevitable invasion of the democratically governed Taiwan or the Republic of China that demands for militarization of the CNMI and other Pacific islands (and also for our security — the CCP’s mouthpiece, The Global Times, have shown videos of nuking Andersen Air Force Base on Guam) — the Philippines is a defense treaty ally of the U.S. and, as U.S. President Biden twice said, the U.S. will come to the aid of Taiwan militarily in defense of democracy when the CCP attacks Taiwan. Hence, the five additional joint bases in the Philippines, the runways improvement in Palau and Yap, and the two Northfield runways on Tinian. These are all done as deterrence against the CCP aggression in the West Philippine Sea and invasion of Taiwan. It is rational and prudent on the part of the U.S. to prepare for war in defense of and in order to secure continued peace in the Pacific region.
On the economic front in the CNMI, President Biden said in France on June 6, 2024, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the World War II invasion of Normandy, that China is on the brink of economic collapse (this also raises red flags on Taiwan invasion to internally deflect the Chinese people’s minds from all their problems within China) and with that it would make no difference if mainland Chinese travelers are grant visa waivers or not to enter the CNMI or not — nowadays hardly any visitor comes from China. Governor Palacios is advocating military tourism to make up for the drop in visitor arrivals — I think he means the permanent stationing of military personnel on Tinian, and I am all for that. I would sure like for the CNMI economy getting few morsels of the more than $1 trillion, so said the Sinogandists, budgeted amount allocated to the U.S. military.
What the Sinogandists do not realize, if they are indeed CNMI grassroots organization, is that the United States of America is our country, and we are citizens thereof. It was for U.S. citizenship that we (yes, I was one of those who voted for it) overwhelmingly approved the “Covenant” that made us Americans, and in which the U.S. maintains complete responsibility and authority over foreign affairs and defense over the CNMI — which as a result we granted more than two-thirds of Tinian to the U.S. military, the entire Farallon de Mendinilla island, and portion of the original Tanapag Harbor Military Retention area (one of nine military retention areas). Before that, the Naftan Rock south of Agiguan (Goat) Island was used for bombing practice out of Guam for the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam Conflict fighting the communists (Vietcong) in Vietnam. The Marianas have been militarized since the days of the Spanish governor Quiroga in 1668 to the present day.
Sino-phobic? No, we are not.
Sincerely,
JOHN S. PANGELINAN
Kagman, Saipan
