President Benigno Noynoy Aquino has again shown off his flair for annoying the Chinese. His defiant and persistent refusal to apologize to Hong Kong over the cold-blooded murder of eight Hong Kong tourists by a berserk Manila policeman has boiled tons of blood in Hong Kong among vote-seeking legislators. Now Noynoy is likely to be drowned in another ocean of fury—this time from China—about his offensive analogy likening China to Nazi Germany. The west must learn from history, said Noynoy. They stood by while Hitler annexed a part of Czechoslovakia before devouring Poland. And so the west must support the Philippines over her claims to a smattering of islands in the South China Sea, now perhaps better known around the world as the West Philippines Sea, to avoid repeating the mistakes of Neville Chamberlain. An annoyed Chinese foreign ministry spokesman condemned Noynoy, saying his remarks smacked of an “amateurish politician,” which was followed by waves of apparently well-orchestrated abusive messages directed to the Philippines in general from the Chinese internet. This must’ve come as a relief to Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had been chased by the fire-breathing dragon for his war shrine visit and similar comparison of China to pre-war Germany, with Japan cast as Britain. From a historian’s point of view, the China-Nazi Germany juxtaposition is grossly inappropriate. The only visible potential Hitler-on-the-rise, formerly based in Chongqing and in the middle of unleashing a Maoist cult and possibly (bravely) plotting a coup, was thrown in jail for life last year after a rapid show-trial. Also, Hitler, Goering and Himmler did not declare war on Britain, France and the US after shifting their family assets, gained from state-sponsored corruption, into these potentially enemy states. Nor would they have been idiotic enough to arrange for their sons, daughters and grandchildren to be naturalized with US or British citizenship, since these family members would most likely have been interned or put under arrest by Churchill long before the first bomb was dropped by the Luftwaffe over London. Also, the aesthetics of the comparison are all wrong. Although Hitler and his clan were atheists like Stalin and Pol Pot, they were very literate and possessed a fine artistic taste ranging from the classical music of Wagner to the philosophy of Nietzsche. Despite the evil they committed, one has to admit that they looked smart with their shining gold-buttoned uniforms and round-rimmed hats, made with stylish German precision, which still look macho and respectable on Hollywood’s screen today. Let us not forget also that as a result of Spartan training, there weren’t many military officers sporting chubby pot-bellies as a result of too many maotai banquets and karaoke feasts. Many have complained of a lack of first-class statesmen in the west today, as compared to the many who served during the period of World War II. Japan may be like Britain in many respects, but the Philippines is far from calling itself the next Czechoslovakia, when its enemy lacks a Franz Kafka. It seems that Noynoy should do a bit more homework before annoying China; and Abe should sort out the basic ABCs of elementary history, before they look the dragon in its eyes.
