Asean Summit
President Trump just completed his Asian trip, doing a fairly good job overall, I think. He did a good job of solidifying our ties with Japan, our strongest ally in the region. He did pretty well among the other countries, too, including Vietnam, one of old enemies. Of course there are still some deep feelings still around about the Vietnam war, but times change, and things pass, and can be changed by new attitudes and new understanding. The funny thing is, I don't think Vietnam is that into Communism, as they would have us believe. They already do many things that are very, very Western in nature. It would not surpise me in the least to see them change from Communism to democracy in a very short time from now. Then there is Taiwan, who strongly denies being a part of China, and wants to be their own independent country, as they have a right to be. They could end up being a major thorn in China's side (militarily too). Then he ended up in Manila, at the Asean Summit. He and President Duterte seemed to get along pretty well together, but who knows. Duterte changed some of his strong arm drug tactics right before the Summit occurred. Now that it is over, he has gone back to the same thing as before. So he seems to have made these changes just for show. I know Duterte had a very strong dislike of Obama. Trump seems to do ok when he talks to the leaders one-on-one.
Now if we could just get the President to lay off the tweets and the ad-libs and I think his popularity would climb quite a bit. But I don't see that happening any time soon. I have mentioned this before, weeks ago, but nothing has changed his mind about speaking out whenever he feels like it.
China is a far different story. Do I think we need to get along with them? Yes, I think we do, to some extent. But keep in mind always that China's well-known goals are to be No.1 in the world, both financially and militarily. They do not match up with us at all militarily at the moment. If we were to have a war (I hope not), China would lose very badly, and they know it. So they are set to try to expand their reach as much as we will let them. They are already pushing Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan., At present, in my opinion, they extend the hand of friendship on one side, while they try to gain as much ground as they can, with the other. The bottom line of what I am saying is this; we can be friendly but not stupid. We have to be firm in our friendship first, making sure that their agenda is not misleading; while keeping them in line with our military if need be. That is what they will understand. Every country want to advance in the world, but it can't be at the cost of another country's rights. If China pushes too hard and too far, they will have numerous enemies in their own area, simply because all of them will realize that it will be their turn next to be bullied.
I have no bad feelings for China, or for Vietnam. I truly wish we could all just get along. I would like to go visit Vietnam myself; one of the few countries in Asia I haven't gone to yet. I do not believe that the Chinese people have bad feelings for Americans, either. We could have a great time together, learning from each other.
But, on the other hand, I DO have bad feelings for North Korea. What they are doing to their own people is a great insult to humans in general. They treat them like caged animals to be disposed of whenever they feel it necessary. The biggest insult to them is that their own people don't even know how badly they are being treated, since the rest of the world is blocked off from them. then they are fed propaganda 24 hours a day until they are brainwashed. If I could, I would gladly re-enter military service if they would give me the chance to go over there and put my size 12 combat boot up the "leaders" ass! I can still do that for sure! He looks like some big fat kid, who probably doens't even know how to do anything himself, and would not be tolerated in any other country for even an hour. But he gets away with it by killing off anyone who opposes him. If North Korea has any chance at all of continuing as it's own country, they need to grow up, get rid of the kid and his bullies, and start a real people's government. At the rate they are going now, their country will either fall apart by itself, or be torn apart by us or our allies. Either way, the Korean people lose.
I can't say much about Russia, a country that we grew up disliking very much. It is almost inborn that we distrust them and their agenda. They can't seem to get past the fact that their country fell apart. They can't get it out of their heads that they should be rulers of the entire world. This always seems to be foremost on their minds. No matter what their politics say, they have always, and still do, believe that their form of government is the very best, even tho it's been proven that it is not many, many times. They just flat won't accept it. And they cannot stand that the U.S. is far above them. Well, if they still want to play the same games, like always meddling in our business, then why shouldn't we do the same thing to them? Turnabout is fair play.
Will the Asean Summit actually help the region? In some ways, I'm sure it will. In others, not so much. It is more about economics than anything else. If they got serious, they could establish some rally great trade between them that would benefit both sides. But, usually, one side wants to benefit while holding the other down. It doesn't work that way. Never has. Let's see if what they agreed upon in the Summit actually comes to fruition.
Now if we could just get the President to lay off the tweets and the ad-libs and I think his popularity would climb quite a bit. But I don't see that happening any time soon. I have mentioned this before, weeks ago, but nothing has changed his mind about speaking out whenever he feels like it.
China is a far different story. Do I think we need to get along with them? Yes, I think we do, to some extent. But keep in mind always that China's well-known goals are to be No.1 in the world, both financially and militarily. They do not match up with us at all militarily at the moment. If we were to have a war (I hope not), China would lose very badly, and they know it. So they are set to try to expand their reach as much as we will let them. They are already pushing Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan., At present, in my opinion, they extend the hand of friendship on one side, while they try to gain as much ground as they can, with the other. The bottom line of what I am saying is this; we can be friendly but not stupid. We have to be firm in our friendship first, making sure that their agenda is not misleading; while keeping them in line with our military if need be. That is what they will understand. Every country want to advance in the world, but it can't be at the cost of another country's rights. If China pushes too hard and too far, they will have numerous enemies in their own area, simply because all of them will realize that it will be their turn next to be bullied.
I have no bad feelings for China, or for Vietnam. I truly wish we could all just get along. I would like to go visit Vietnam myself; one of the few countries in Asia I haven't gone to yet. I do not believe that the Chinese people have bad feelings for Americans, either. We could have a great time together, learning from each other.
But, on the other hand, I DO have bad feelings for North Korea. What they are doing to their own people is a great insult to humans in general. They treat them like caged animals to be disposed of whenever they feel it necessary. The biggest insult to them is that their own people don't even know how badly they are being treated, since the rest of the world is blocked off from them. then they are fed propaganda 24 hours a day until they are brainwashed. If I could, I would gladly re-enter military service if they would give me the chance to go over there and put my size 12 combat boot up the "leaders" ass! I can still do that for sure! He looks like some big fat kid, who probably doens't even know how to do anything himself, and would not be tolerated in any other country for even an hour. But he gets away with it by killing off anyone who opposes him. If North Korea has any chance at all of continuing as it's own country, they need to grow up, get rid of the kid and his bullies, and start a real people's government. At the rate they are going now, their country will either fall apart by itself, or be torn apart by us or our allies. Either way, the Korean people lose.
I can't say much about Russia, a country that we grew up disliking very much. It is almost inborn that we distrust them and their agenda. They can't seem to get past the fact that their country fell apart. They can't get it out of their heads that they should be rulers of the entire world. This always seems to be foremost on their minds. No matter what their politics say, they have always, and still do, believe that their form of government is the very best, even tho it's been proven that it is not many, many times. They just flat won't accept it. And they cannot stand that the U.S. is far above them. Well, if they still want to play the same games, like always meddling in our business, then why shouldn't we do the same thing to them? Turnabout is fair play.
Will the Asean Summit actually help the region? In some ways, I'm sure it will. In others, not so much. It is more about economics than anything else. If they got serious, they could establish some rally great trade between them that would benefit both sides. But, usually, one side wants to benefit while holding the other down. It doesn't work that way. Never has. Let's see if what they agreed upon in the Summit actually comes to fruition.