As China inexorably flexes its sea muscles in the local seas, the Trump regime has shown only bluster and chaos. Now the Philippines has taken action by expelling US troops. This leaves the US Navy untethered with much less claim to any right to be off of China.
From the Philippine’s point of view, this may be a good thing. Leaving aside the issue of trade, expelling US troops may make the Philipines a better place, When Japan expelled most of the US military bases in the 70s, violent crimes stats dropped by 53%. Rapes and other crimes against women dropped by 38%…That’s pretty substantial when you consider that active US military personnel accounted for less than .06% of the population.
We have not had bases in the Philippines for 25 years. There are some Americans stationed in the Philippines, but a small number, and were some joint exercises. The small number of troops makes the issue mute. Phillippinoes like Americans and dislike PResident Duerto’s swing toward China.