[b][i]Intermission Three - All Saints' Day in Mischief Reef[/i][/b]

[b]Mischief Reef/Đá Vành Khăn/Panganiban Reef - 11/01/2022 08:10 UTC+8[/b]

Jin Li changed what he was doodling from a random picture to a rough map of Southeast Asia, before saying, "My tutors told me that ASEAN, even after 1988, was [i]never[/i] meant to be a military alliance - It was an economic, cultural, and political one where every member had loose obligations towards each other and had clauses against interfering in each others' affairs. If anything, it's a miracle that this pact lasted against the PLA and its forces even with our help... Especially as two ASEAN countries, which are not in Civil War, are inclined to side with the so-called People's Republic of China over, say, Vietnam and Thailand."

He pointed to the doodles of Laos and Cambodia and said, "Laos owes China money and has its series of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong built with Chinese help in 'better times'. Cambodia, meanwhile, is a poor country that has accepted immense Chinese investments as late as 2020, just one year before the war. Its King is hostile to China, but its Prime Minister and large portions of the army see it as a counterweight to Vietnamese and Thai influence. You can see where I or my tutors are going, right?"

The boy sighed, then continued, "Not just that, but while First Lieutenant Alonso is loyal to his country and anything that keeps him away from that 'Dragon of Thirst'," Jin Li chuckled at that, "the Government of National Salvation he serves is a patchwork of factions in a civil war with the very people who invited the PLA into ASEAN territory in the first place - The core is held together by genuine patriotism but everyone outside it with any bit of power is an opportunist, a traitor, or potentially both."

Pointing with his stick to the crude picture of the Philippines on the sand, Jin spoke, "The Philippine Government of National Salvation came to power because the President-Elect was assassinated by the previous President, who ran for Vice President to circumvent their Constitution's laws restricting a President to one term, and that caused a constitutional crisis and civil war. Not only that, but the President-Elect's sister and mother sided against their dead son to stand [i]with[/i] China, and their families have a lot of clout in the northernmost Philippines and some of the central islands, plus the far south."

He then looked directly at Qingshe and said, "Reports emerged that several collaborationist militias had been preparing in Lubao, Pampanga, to ambush the Philippine Army and Marines in Lingayen should they be forced to retreat from the beaches and city. These are in turn led by wealthy landowners and scions of powerful political clans. The victory in Lingayen Beach was a miracle because it stopped the PRC from winning the war outright... Even then, Huo Ren has been interested in certain people in the subsequent Task Force formed after that - Even if we plug up the leak, that interest won't end; I and Ren Zhao have agreed on this that [i]he must be eliminated[/i]."

[@Lewascan2][@Amidatelion]