Being in the Philipines on more than one occasion and working closely with many, there has always been an affinity between our two nations, and the bonds became stronger as a result of WWII, but in the 70's & 80's there became a yearning in them to break away on their own, they felt they no longer needed a big brother around to carry them, and that's fine. But I think removing our military presence there, while giving them a sense of independence, was going to eventually be a potential destabilizing factor in S.E. Asia, and I think that concern is what is beginning to manifest itself with increasing Chinese strength. The other thing that could really cause China to become more aggressive is natural resources. Like the Japanese before them, they are consuming more and more, and I am hearing some rumblings about slowing production in China, if turns out to be resource-driven, they could be in a more expansionist mood.