CHINA WIPES OUT OBAMA'S ASIAN PIVOT

        China's resolute stand for its sovereignty rights in the South China Sea is bearing fruit. Today, the Filipino government announced that it would agree to Chinese terms for bilateral talks on settling the dispute: a policy China has offered from the beginning.

         Filipino President Duterte---who was elevated to power largely through American and Japanese intrigue---has expressed growing reservations about The Philippines' actual role in the so-called Asian Pivot. Not without good reason, Duterte is suspicious of Obama's motives in the whole venture; and more especially for Filipino interests, Obama's willingness to back up his tough talk with actions. This was especially underscored when US officials leaked to the Corporate-Media outlet Reuters that the "US doesn't want the world to believe that the US is manipulating other countries in the region to confront China. What we want is for these issues to quiet down so these issues can be addressed rationally instead of emotionally."

          Manipulating other regional countries to confront China, and engaging in provocative actions is exactly what the US has been doing ever since the Asian Pivot was announced. The sudden shift in policy is more about Obama's treachery and cowardice than any supposed desire for peace.

           China has begun a new series of military exercises in the area, and while it has stated that its sovereignty over the South China Sea is non-negotiable, China is offering The Philippines a substantial economic and mutual defense treaty in the disputed area. The talks though, involve only the two countries without outside interference.

           Meanwhile, China is taking concrete actions against Obama's recent provocations on the Korean Peninsula, specifically the US deployment of THAAD missile batteries in South Korea. China objects to this deployment on the grounds both that the THAAD is capable of hitting China and that it has inflamed tensions with North Korea. The Chinese Defense Ministry has responded by deploying missile batteries of its own near the coast. The Chinese Congress is also debating economic sanctions against South Korea.In light of these events, South Koreans are protesting THAAD, and the South Korean leaders' poll numbers are falling rapidly.

            What exactly has Obama's Asian Pivot accomplished after billions spent on military posturing, electoral manipulating, and arms-deals in the region? It has cost the US the right to pass military vessels through the South China Sea; lost our opportunity to develop the region's vast oil reserves; elevated China into the regional superpower; cost us relationships with our traditional regional allies and inflamed anti-American sentiment throughout the region. And the domino-effect of these blunders have yet to be realized fully.

             All of this wasted effort and money could have been avoided simply by bilateral negotiation, as China offered from the beginning. But instead, the American attitude was to show those Chinks who's boss, and Xi Jinping---who is a real leader---stood tall for China and called Obama's bluff.

             Of course, just as Obama slinks away from the South China Sea, nobody in the Prozac Nation will notice. There are plenty of other distractions like the Race War and the meaningless upcoming political conventions to divert Ameroboob attention. Meanwhile, China will organize and develop the South China Sea into a prosperous and secure trade zone while we go on debating over national crises like homosexual bathroom access.