China’s peace dividend

IN one of the biggest news of the year that was promptly sidelined by the Western corporate mainstream media and the Western leaders, Saudi Arabia and Iran, last April 6, 2023 and after 4 days of “secret”—but sincere talks in Beijing– announced the restoration of their diplomatic relationship highlighted with the reopening of their respective embassies and restoration of regular air flight between their countries.

Of course, the West had to, nay, must, downplay this peace accord brokered by China because, well, it was brokered by China and not by them or their “boss,” US Imperialism.

If there is any lesson that our diplomats and PBBM can learn from what had just transpired is this: that the policy of being “friend to all and enemy to none,” to be credible and accepted, is grounded on acts, not words. And that, as what China has done, it would take decades of resolute adherence both thru sincere words and deeds for the policy to be believed by the majority of the global community. The key word, Mr. President is “sincerity.”

In the Philippine case, our claim to the policy is seen not only as laughable by other countries but also, hypocritical, given our subservience to all US wishes, whims, and caprices. In other words, a dog is a dog even if you make it sound or look like a tiger.

Anyway, with peace between Saudi Arabia and Iran, most people are also seeing peace soon enveloping many of the flashpoints and war-torn areas in the Middle East such as Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, among others. Peace is now also looming over the horizon in Syria and Iraq and maybe, as far away as Libya in North Africa. In other words, peace is now at hand in all countries in the Middle East and North Africa devastated and destabilized by Western aggression.

Indeed, as I am writing this (April 10), Saudi representatives together with diplomats from Oman, are meeting with the leaders of the Houthis in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa to establish a ceasefire and end the civil war in that country where the KSA got embroiled in 2015 on the prodding of US Imperialism.

It should be remembered that in the Middle East, the Saudis, previously, acted not only as the financier but also the haven of US machinations against Iran since after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Iran, for its part, retaliated by supporting the ‘liberation groups’ in Palestine such as the Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.

In Syria and Iraq, the Saudis had also previously turned a blind eye on the use of US Imperialism of terrorist groups such as the ISIS in further destabilizing those countries and giving financial support when asked.

In the aftermath of the reconciliation between the KSA and the Islamic Republic of Iran, it has also been reported that the Kingdom is now also willing to sit down with Syrian president Bashar al Assad, this time on the suggestion of Russia and discuss how peace in Syria can also be achieved. Some of the US’ warplanes and drones bombing Syria and Iraq are based in Saudi Arabia.

With peace between Saudi Arabia and Iran, most people are also seeing peace soon enveloping many of the flashpoints and war-torn areas in the Middle East such as Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, among others. Peace is now also looming over the horizon in Syria and Iraq and maybe, as far away as Libya in North Africa. In other words, peace is now at hand in all countries in the Middle East and North Africa devastated and destabilized by Western aggression.

In Syria, it is well-known that peace is very hard to be realized because US Imperialism is also supporting, arming, and aiding the terrorist groups there wanting to bring down the Syrian government but for the presence of Russian troops.

On the other hand, the Russians are there in order to check the “migration” of US-supported terrorists in Syria to the Muslim-speaking regions of Russia (and thru this, into China). Russia also knows that if it does not support President Bashar, what happened to Iraq after the removal of Pres. Saddam Hussein in 2003 and his murder 3 years later would also happen in Syria—a bulwark of extremist Muslim international terrorism.

Last February 24, on the first anniversary of Russia’s ‘SMO’ (special military operations) in Ukraine, China released its 12-point proposals for a ceasefire leading to a peace talk.

As usual, US Imperialism and its stooges in the West and in Asia (like the Philippines) would not dare touch it with a 10-foot pole and resorted to maligning the proposal without even possibly reading it first.

Be that as it may, this proposal is now gathering acceptance in many parts of the world as thus far, it is the only sane proposal to come out from a major power and which, primarily, does not put the blame on any party, the way US Imperialism and its minions would want to frame theirs—blame Russia immediately.

Heck, even the United Nations has become irrelevant now, its credibility a shred for being a pawn of the West and being so, unable to come out with a proposal acceptable to the protagonists.

Besides, as in the Saudi-Iran talks, both Russia and Ukraine very well know that only China has the credibility and sincerity to broker peace between them mainly because the only vested interest that China has in the process is simply this: trade.

This, of course, cannot be said of US Imperialism and its NATO minions who have been shameless in proclaiming that war in Ukraine must not stop until Russia is defeated, dismembered, and turned into small “principalities” the way most of Europe was under Napoleon, the ‘Hegemon’ of his day.