Rolando Tinio used to tell me that, after all their years of alliance, the greatest tragedy in US-RP relations is that the Americans and the Filipinos never really understood each other. One such example I recall is the time when a certain US Ambassador could not accept why, during programs, Filipino guests came for the food and not for the programs. It even came to a point when two other Embassies would bar student guests away from the buffet tables during art exhibit openings, and, when that didn't work, served only wine and cheese.

Today, I see that the Chinese understand the Filipinos only too well, but that the Filipinos cannot or will not understand the Chinese.

I am still undecided as to which of the two relations is more dangerous.