The pitfall of every nationalist analysis of geopolitics is being biased for the country from which the analyst comes. It is unavoidable. Precisely because he is pro-nation and therefore a nationalist. But also precisely because what the patriot analyzes is a world situation, limiting himself to the national perspective would tend to be inaccurate if not entirely erroneous.

In the obtaining world situation wherein the battle for world hegemony, economically speaking, is between the United States and China (of course bringing along their respective world alliances), nationalism cannot but be constrained by having to take sides in the competition. For this reason, I wrote in this column, 'Can one be pro-Filipino without being pro-Chinese?' The proposition is based on my perception that in the world competition, China is winning and America is losing. It is in the best interest of the Philippines that it profits from China's determined push worldwide of President Xi Jinping's vision of 'a world community of shared future.' President Xi's Belt and Road Initiative, as borne by facts, has now covered nearly two-thirds of the world, spanning from Asia to the Middle East, and all the way to Europe and Africa. Under President Rodrigo Duterte's watch, the Philippines has had the wisdom of shifting alliances in foreign policy, from sole dependence on the United States to comprehensive friendly relations with China. And the shift has worked wonders for the country: huge Chinese investments in the country's economic development programs coupled with fat donations in infrastructure, like the two additional bridges across the Pasig River to ease traffic in Metro Manila, constructed entirely at China's cost gratis et amore, and which are scheduled to open soon. For my criterion, President Duterte must be a true-blue nationalist for having correctly taken the China way.