Dear China

Why do you keep bullying the Philippines?

Our total land area is only approximately 3 percent of yours. Like any other small kid on the block, we feel that we are being bullied by someone as large as you. How many times have we seen your fishermen helping themselves to our natural resources, particularly the endangered species in our waters? Don’t you know that we cannot live without them? Don’t you know that each species, from microorganisms to giant clams, is very precious to us?

There are also times when your people would harass and prevent our fishermen from catching fish even if only for the sustenance of their families. Your people in large ships would automatically use water cannons to drive them away from their traditional fishing grounds. And let us not forget the racial discrimination that overseas Filipino workers are experiencing from your people. I have listened to stories of their sad experiences.

On the other hand, I may not also forget the hostage incident at Rizal Park in which a number of your people died. The acts by my fellow Filipinos hacking your sites are quite troublesome, too, and maybe a lot more. I agree, all of these should not have happened.

I see and hear news reports on TV and radio that can serve to ruin the roots of our longtime friendship and kinship. To think that even before the Spanish colonizers came, our peoples were already friends and business partners, exchanging goods and ideas and strengthening the bonds of brotherhood.

Without you and the Philippines, I would never have been born. My family came from Fujian, where my ancestors lived and breathed. In the early 1900s, some of us moved to the Philippines to take part in the trading and business opportunities that it offers.

Look at me: I have chinky eyes and chocolate-colored skin. Yes, I am half–Chinese, half–Filipino—also known, in the colloquial term, as Chinoy.

As you are well aware, there are lots of Chinoys here in the Philippines. Even the so-called “Great Malay,” our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, also has roots in China, as do our business tycoons.

My experiences are the same as other young Chinoys. We celebrate Chinese New Year, even the Spring Festival, with fireworks, buffet-wide dimsum (from shaomai to nian gao), and the lively lion dance (for the promise of prosperity). During those celebrations, we traditionally give the little ones red envelopes (hongbao). We wear traditional (and mandatory, for our parents) Chinese suits for special occasions, with red as the luckiest color. We study Mandarin and speak various languages at home (both Filipino and Chinese: Hokkien, Mandarin, you name it!). Believe me when I say that feng shui is very popular here in the Philippines. Before someone builds a house, that person would first consult with the feng shui expert.

Like you, we Filipinos are family-oriented, always wanting to have our kin near to us. We like to live next door to our parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents—or even with all of them under one roof! So, it would be very painful for someone who is geographically close to us to be our enemy.

If those disputed islands, islets and reefs will only destroy our friendship and kinship, can we let these islands, islets and reefs be forever free of any country’s ownership? Let us not abandon the idea of living in harmony and peace. I can just hear Pocahontas singing in the woods, proclaiming this: You think you own whatever land you land on/The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim/But I know every rock and tree and creature/Has a life, has a spirit, has a name.

Please, let us consider ourselves part of the Earth, not just a part of a certain nation/country. I know, politics will forever be politics, but I just hope it will not ruin our future.

I have many relatives and friends in China. I hope that someday I will be able to hug them and spread the love, and, in turn, to be assured that not a single barricade, whether political or social, will break our strong relationship. Contrary to what others say, contrary to what may seem, Filipinos don’t despise you. In fact, our Chinoy communities are highly revered here.

Please, let us not ruin the future for islands, islets and reefs. I personally consider China as the Philippines’ older brother (gege). Instead of bullying us, why doesn’t our gege guide us, teach us, and help us? You were born way ahead of us. You have experienced a lot. You have gone through trials and victories. In comparison, we are just starting with life, trying to stand up.

I can imagine how it can be a better world for both the Philippines and China. If our countries were humans, I can just see how we can mend the strained relationship. How sweet it is to think that you are our gege and we are your younger brother (didi). Imagine us striving to keep our balance on a bicycle. We sometimes lose control and eventually fall. Instead of your heckling us for our lack of skill in biking, I dream of you offering your hand so we can get back up.

Back again on the bicycle, doubling my effort to learn, I wish you will put a hand on the black rubber grips up front and the other on the back edge of the seat. As I awkwardly pedal my way on the road, I wish you will run with me, supporting me, until I am able to find and keep my balance by myself.

I am still with high hopes that our countries will be able to forge a harmonious relationship.

With love,

Nia

Nia Chua, 22, graduated with a BS Management degree from the University of the Philippines Visayas (Tacloban College) in 2013. She works at the Department of Labor and Employment in Tacloban City as regional coordinator of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs.