Chinese bullies

Until the communists took over power in China, the Chinese had never been known to bully other people, much less the smaller nations. This is the reason that for centuries the Philippines and China had been friends. Traders came and even loved this country and its women that despite the harassment of the Spanish government in the early days of Spanish conquest, the Chinese opted to remain here, embraced Christianity to be permitted to reside in the Philippines.

Antagonism against the Chinese came later when the Spaniards adopted a policy of exclusion and propagated the idea that the Chinese are here to take over. No such thing except that the Spaniards found the Chinese as competitors. In fact Governor Gomez Dasmariñas worried that plenty of money was leaving the colony to China. The Governor reported that the government was experiencing trade deficits due to this outflow.

On the other hand, the Spaniards could not expel the Chinese entirely because the latter were the only ones who knew how to bake the bread for the Spanish table, cut hair, repair shoes, do intricate carpentry works for Spanish mansions and manicure their gardens and even how to remove ear wax. Moreover many Spanish officials were willing to forego with their scruples about enforcing the Royal Decrees in return for easy and fast commercial and financial gain.

There was only one attempt of the Chinese coming to the Philippines to forcibly take over territory in 1574. This Chinese corsair, Limahong, however was a fugitive from China. China sent an envoy to officially ask the Spanish government for assistance to arrest Limahong. The corsair fled to Pangasinan but eventually left the Philippines.

There were several bloody encounters between the Spanish government and Chinese merchants who were perceived, not so much to take over the country but for economic reasons. Nevertheless, the Spanish government needed the Chinese and the Chinese loved to stay in the Philippines. When the government expanded its economic development program, it drew from Chinese skills and labor to make these programs work.

For the sugar industry, for instance, the Filipinos did not have the skill for the various stages of sugar production – from cultivation to processing and marketing. To hasten the development of the industry, the Spanish government allowed the importation of Chinese labor from Xiamen where sugarcane was cultivated in bigger, commercial scale.

I found many Chinese workers' names during the period from 1862 onwards when the government called for skill labor. These laborers found their way in today's sugar producing provinces. They first went to Iloilo where sugar was vastly cultivated and then moved over to Negros. This is the reason that many terminologies used in the sugar industry have Chinese origins.

The influx of Chinese immigrants continued like a spring flowing into a vacuum, but this flow became a flood from 1945 to 1950 when the communist overran China and millions of Chinese fled the country. Philippine President Elpidio Quirino asked Congress to open the doors to the refugees.

For China therefore to bully the Philippines and the Hong Kong officials to degrade the Filipinos is an act of extreme ingratitude. We opened our doors to them, many of their compatriots found hope and prosperity in this country. While some dislike the Chinese that is not an official or majority attitude but more a product of envy. Sure there are Chinese businessmen and exploiters but so are there Americans, Dutch, French, German, British, Malaysians, Indians, Russians, Europeans, etc.

After World War II nationalist politicians blamed Chinese businessmen of controlling the retail trade thus the Congress passed a law that excluded the Chinese from these small-time businesses. That was like throwing the turtle into the river to punish it. The ever resilient and innovative Chinese shifted to wholesale and manufacturing, banking, real estate and other industries. The Filipinos remained the small-time businessmen.

Chinese descendants remained at the top of the economic heap but most consider themselves Filipinos – some even more Filipino than the natives.

The intransigence of the present-day China is part of the classic communist plan of world domination. That it has adopted capitalistic economic system is merely a tool but these communists never abandoned their planned to bring other nations under their sphere.

The occupation of Philippine territory is just another step. The island China illegally occupied stands as a blocking area for shipment in this route. Sadly the communist allies in the Philippines under guise of nationalism succeeded in removing our defense cover against foreign aggression – the American bases.*

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