On the issue of dealing with the Philippines, the attitude within the US government is extremely divided.
During the Spanish-American War in 1898, in order to win the support of the Filipinos, the U.S. government contacted the Filipinos and promised to help the Philippines become independent after driving away the Spanish, thus gaining the support of the Philippines.
After the Spanish-American War, Spain sold its Asian colonies, including the Philippines and Guam, to the United States for $20 million, and the Philippines became a U.S. colony.
Based on the agreement reached in advance between the Americans and the Philippines, when the Filipinos approached the Americans and asked the Americans to honor their promises and grant the Philippines independent status, they were rejected by the Americans. This is another American joke.
An uprising broke out in the Philippines.
Uprisings are normal in the Philippines. During the 300 years of Spanish colonization of the Philippines, an average of five uprisings broke out every year.
Now you know why the Spanish government sold the Philippines to the Americans.
For the Spanish government, in order to maintain colonial rule in the Philippines, it not only had to pay large sums of money every year, but it also failed to obtain sufficient returns from the Philippines.
Just like the British allowing autonomy for southern Africa, for Spain, the Philippines has become a huge financial burden, and it is just a good opportunity to dump it on the Americans.
The United States did not know enough about the situation in the Philippines and thought that the Philippines was an untapped gold mine. It spent a huge price to buy the Philippines. Naturally, it could not easily allow the Philippines to become independent. Therefore, it sent the US military to suppress the Philippines by force under the command of Arthur MacArthur.
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Is this name familiar?
Yes, Arthur MacArthur is Douglas MacArthur’s father.
This war lasted for three years. On July 4, 1902, Arthur MacArthur announced that the war was over and the Philippines officially became a part of the United States.
Ironically, July 4th is Independence Day in the United States.
It was on this special day that the United States deprived another country of its right to independence.
In order to suppress the Filipino resistance, the United States paid a huge price, with nearly 4,300 people killed and a cost of US$1 billion.
This was $1 billion in 1902.
In the Second Boer War at about the same time, Britain only spent a total of 220 million pounds. As a result, the British government almost went bankrupt.
The US$1 billion spent by the Americans was just the beginning. Over the next two decades, the US would spend tens of millions of US dollars every year in the Philippines to maintain its colonial rule.
Spending so much money has indeed had an effect. The Philippines has jumped from the most backward country in Asia to a more developed Asian version of the United States. The financial assistance from the Americans has not only built a lot of infrastructure for the Philippines, but also improved the quality of Filipinos.
The level of education has gradually gained the gratitude of some Filipinos.
This pattern continued until 1929.
Although Americans have spent a lot of energy in the Philippines, like Spain, the United States has not received enough benefits from the Philippines, and the efforts and gains are seriously out of proportion.
This caused the United States' attitude toward the Philippines to gradually change, and some people within the U.S. government began to propose abandoning the Philippines.
It is not easy to give up. There is a term in economics called sunk cost.
The United States has spent so much money for the Philippines. If the Philippines is allowed to become independent, not only will all the previous investment be in vain, but it will also cause huge damage to the image of the United States.
The United States did not hesitate to launch a war for the sake of the Philippines.
Now that the Philippines is allowed to become independent, does this prove that the Filipinos are tenacious and unyielding?
No, it only proves the incompetence of Americans.
In addition to the country's image, the feelings of Americans, especially the feelings of military personnel who participated in the Spanish-American War, must also be considered.
The United States lost 5,000 people in action during the Spanish-American War, and 4,300 people died in the subsequent suppression of the Philippine resistance. Although most of these people died of illness rather than fighting, it is enough to show that the Americans made huge sacrifices.
If the Philippines becomes independent, what is the significance of the American soldiers who sacrificed their lives?
It is worth mentioning that Douglas MacArthur, who was officially the Governor-General of the Philippines at the time, was the most fiercely opposed to Philippine independence.
This is also understandable.
Suppressing the Philippine uprising was old Arthur's most glorious achievement.
Little Arthur was the governor-general of the Philippines at the time. The sky was high and the emperor was far away. He was living at ease as the emperor in the Philippines.
If the Philippines becomes independent, will Arthur Jr. return to West Point and become the principal?
Being a principal is not as free as being a governor.
So for whatever purpose, Douglas MacArthur's attitude towards Philippine independence is completely unacceptable.
Considering various factors, the U.S. government can only choose to maintain the status quo.
In peacetime, the U.S. government can still afford tens of millions of dollars a year.
When the economic crisis broke out in 1929 and the "Great Depression" swept across the world, the Philippines not only failed to provide blood transfusions to the United States, but also needed more funds from the United States because of its economic damage.
At that time, Americans were increasingly rejecting the Philippines. American farmers demanded restrictions on the import of Philippine agricultural products because it would affect their interests; American workers demanded restrictions on Filipino immigration because Filipino immigrants would take away jobs from American workers.
In 1932, the U.S. government passed the "Haile Harvey Gatting Independence Act" and demanded the independence of the Philippines.
During the Philippine uprising, about 16,000 people were killed in action, and 200,000 people died from diseases, massacres and other reasons.
After paying such a heavy price, we still failed to gain independent status. Now that the U.S. government is demanding independence for the Philippines, I think the Filipinos should be happy to accept it.
The most bizarre scene in colonial history happened.
Not only does the Philippines not want independence, but it is dissatisfied with its status as an overseas colony and hopes to join the United States as a state.
The United States does not even want to bear the cost of maintaining the colonial government. If the Philippines joins the United States, then the United States will have an unshirkable obligation to support the Philippines and can never shirk it.
After fully realizing that the Philippines was a big pit, the United States passed a new independence law in 1934, the Tydings-McDuffie Act, and decided to set a ten-year transition period for independence for the Philippines. During the transition period,
U.S. aid to the Philippines will not change.
According to the provisions of the "Tydings-McDuffie Act", the Philippines should have become independent in 1944.
The plan could not keep up with the changes. In 1941, the Japanese army launched a large-scale attack on the Philippines. The Battle of the Philippines broke out, and the "Tydings McDuffie Act" was postponed.
The world war is over, and the United States is also facing tremendous pressure for economic transformation. A new round of economic crisis is brewing. There is no doubt that this time, it will definitely start from the United States.
The Americans could not protect themselves, and the independence of the Philippines was once again put on the agenda.
Coinciding with Japan's surrender, Arthur Jr.'s attention shifted to Japan and his attitude towards Philippine independence was no longer firm. This removed the biggest obstacle for the US government.
Southern Africa must firmly oppose everything Americans advocate.
So when it comes to Philippine independence, Angel's attitude is the same as MacArthur's.
First conquer and then abandon, completely disrespecting the wishes of Filipinos, what is the difference between this scumbag?
As a responsible government, the United States cannot start chaos and give up. It should take responsibility for the Philippines.
Before heading to Pretoria, Angel made some arrangements to target the U.S. government's scumbag behavior, mainly to create pressure on the U.S. government from the perspective of public opinion.
If the Americans really want to run away, no one can stop them.
But before running away, you have to leave something behind, either youth compensation or face.
While Angel was reporting at the Palace of Justice, reporter Li Jia from the Lion City Daily was conducting interviews in Manila.
After Manila was recaptured, MacArthur still did some work. After all, he really loved Manila and had real feelings for Manila.
The Japanese warship that was sunk during the sneak attack on Manila Port has now been repaired and towed to the Lion City to be transformed into a maritime museum. All the garbage on the sea has been cleaned up. With the hard work of hundreds of thousands of Japanese prisoners of war and Filipino servants,
The city of Manila has returned to its former prosperity.
MacArthur referred to the experience of southern Africa when rebuilding Manila. He carried out scientific planning for the city of Manila, took the opportunity to demolish large areas of unreasonable buildings, and planned a large number of green spaces and parks in the new city. The reserved streets were also very wide.
A solid foundation was laid for post-war reconstruction, and then——
Then it was gone.
Even if there is a large amount of free labor, post-war reconstruction will still require massive financial support, especially supporting infrastructure that is indispensable in a modern city. Parks and green spaces look beautiful and can effectively improve the livability of the city. Parks and green spaces must be built.
money.
If this were the case in Southern Africa, the federal government only needed to come up with a planning map, and businessmen would naturally flock to the city. With only social funds raised, a new city could be built in just one or two years.
It is impossible to expect Filipinos to raise their own funds. The U.S. government cannot extract money from it. Where can Filipinos raise their own funds?
The Philippine government had no choice but to ask the U.S. government for money after much deliberation.
The attitude of the United States is very firm: When you grow up, my child, you must learn to find money by yourself——
The U.S. government is not so cute. This is probably what it means. It provides enough spiritual support but does not require money.
So in Manila now, although the streets are wide, they don’t even have the most basic pavement. Manila is located in the tropics, it rains a lot in summer, and the unhardened roads will turn into mud puddles when it rains.
The roads were not hardened, and there was no money to repair the parks and green spaces. After the war, many Filipinos from around Manila came to Manila to make a living. They had no place to live, so they gathered in the open space reserved for the park, so the park became
for slums.
The girl Li Jia is interviewing is named Shirley. Shirley is only 19 years old and already has two children. The eldest is 5 years old and the younger is not yet born.
Shirley is a standard Filipino, petite, fair-skinned, has received some education, can write her own name, smiles very shyly, and does not look like a mother of two children at all.
Shirley's child is called Tom, with blue eyes, slightly curly blond hair, and obvious mixed-race features.
"Tom's father is American. I met him when I was 14 years old. Later he returned to the United States -" When Shirley mentioned Tom's father, her expression was not sad or regretful, but sweet.
Li Jia was about to explode.
You are still a child at the age of 14, how can you do this? You are like a beast - a flat-haired beast!
"The father of the child in my belly is also an American. He has gone to Japan now and asked me to wait for him here. He will come back to pick me up and take me and the child to the United States." Shirley smiled brightly and was full of longing for the future.
Li Jia didn't know whether to remind Shirley that the child's father would definitely not come back.
"Are there many such things?" Li Jia looked at Shirley and frowned.
There are so many things like this that people have become accustomed to it.
The Philippines was colonized by the Spanish for 300 years, and then the United States took over for 40 years. During these 340 years, there were countless mixed-race Filipinos, and Shirley actually had obvious mixed-race characteristics.
Real Filipinos have dark skin and will never be as fair as Shirley.
Many people say that mixed race people are beautiful.
Few people know that crossbreeding can cause genetic degeneration.
"I have a cousin who went to the United States with Americans. She lives a very happy life. She has a big house to live in, endless beautiful clothes to wear, and she never worries about her livelihood." Shirley also wants to live such a life.
It has become her belief.
"Did you talk to her on the phone?" Li Jia was worried that this was survivor bias.
"No--"
"Then you passed the letter?"
"nor--"
Yes, this is just fantasy.
"The Americans in the movie all live in big houses and drive small cars -" Shirley probably thinks that all Americans can live in big houses and drive small cars.
The Americans in the movie go around helping the God of Justice to come down to earth.
In reality, wherever Americans appear, they will only bring chaos and conflict.
If you want to understand the real America, you can't go to Wall Street, you have to go watch Big Eagle's live broadcast.
"Have you ever thought that that man might not come back?" Li Jia didn't want to break Shirley's fantasy, let alone watch Shirley continue to be confused.
"How is that possible? The Philippines is part of the United States, and we are all Americans—" Shirley's words left Li Jia speechless. This was just the Filipinos' wishful thinking.
When the United States needs the Philippines, the Philippines is part of the United States, and Filipinos are Americans, regardless of each other.
When the United States does not need the Philippines, the Philippines is a waste and garbage dump with no nostalgia value. In addition to scars and ruins, the Americans leave behind countless illegitimate children.
From this perspective, the US government should indeed be responsible for the Philippines.
At the very least, we have to be responsible for the illegitimate children left behind by American soldiers. These illegitimate children are all of American blood, so how can they be left outside?
The next day, the "Singapore Daily" published Li Jia's report on the front page: From Manila to New York - Pink Dream.
As for the media, the circle is actually not very big. They communicate with each other internally and cannot get first-hand information. It is normal to reprint the news, as long as the source is indicated.
When Li Jia reported on the issues left by the US military, the focus of the American media had shifted from Europe to Japan, and "Battlefield Express" reprinted it immediately.