Chinese Poke Philippines

In a story reminiscent of the "Ugly American", an old movie about American diplomacy, China is trying to control what is said by Philippines leaders about their victory in the dispute over territory in the South China Sea.  In an article today in The Wall Street Journal [http://www.wsj.com/articles/man-in-the-middle-rodrigo-duterte-gets-a-taste-of-china-1468909553] the story of the brazenness of Chinese diplomats is demonstrated in the attempts to have the new leader of the Philippines limit what he can and cannot say about his case.  

I have been saying for a number of years that China wants to control what it's people hear and see from the outside world, but they want to do it by limiting what others say about China.  This seems to know no bounds.  Both Rodrigo Duterte and his minister had met the same day with the Chinese ambassador.  Both got the same kind of help with deciding what to say and what not to say.  If any other country had done what the Chinese did they would be looking at accusations of intimidation and diplomatic malpractice.  What we lack in the world is a diplomatic corps willing to push back against this kind of outright bullying.

I heard the story of a Latin American diplomat who stuck a gun in the face of one of the ambassadors of another country to make a point about his past involvement in killing people who spoke out against the government.  It was a very undiplomatic but it did make his point clear and the other fellow carried a message back to his embassy that was probably memorable.  We can think of the Chinese as thugs, but they are more like Mafia enforcers who know very well what they are doing and how to make their points clearly.  The amazing thing is the tolerance for their behavior among the other diplomats of the world.