Reston chose to compromise.
To be precise, the White House chose to compromise. As a negotiator, Reston returned to the negotiating table after his second phone call with the White House.
"Star Ring Trade must withdraw its troops from Mindanao... We can talk about the independence of the Moro Kingdom."
Hearing these words from Reston's mouth, Dieter suddenly jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his neck and face turned blood red, and he spit and cursed at Reston.
"This is Chi Guoguo's conspiracy! You betrayed your allies, don't you feel shameful!"
Reston looked at Jiang Chen indifferently, ignoring the furious Dieter. Eric, who was sitting aside, couldn't stand it any longer. He coughed softly, acted as a peacemaker, and began to calm Dietite's emotions.
"It's okay to withdraw the troops, but we will keep 100 Marines in Cagayan City. We are ready to establish a rescue station here to fulfill our obligations of humanitarian rescue." Jiang Chen said righteously.
This sentence almost choked Eric on the side. This was the first time he had seen someone using humanitarianism as a cover to garrison troops.
"The maximum number is 50 people, and fighter planes cannot be deployed." Reston said.
"100 people. Speaking of which, Cagayan City is the territory of the Moro Kingdom. This is an agreement between us and a third-party country. Do you have the right to interfere?" Jiang Chen said.
Reston looked at Santos.
Santos smiled, showing off his white teeth and a cunning look that didn't match his muscular body.
“We have no objection and welcome Starring Trade’s support in the redevelopment of Cagayan City and investment in industries in Mindanao.”
"...Okay." Reston nodded reluctantly.
"Then there are negotiations on the territorial issues of the Moro Kingdom. Except for the undisputed main island of Mindanao, the Sulu Islands-"
"There's no need to talk about this." Ditate shouted, interrupting Jiang Chen's words.
However, Jiang Chen didn't seem to notice him and continued.
"The Sulu Islands are currently under the actual control of the 11th Guerrilla Brigade of the Moro Kingdom."
"Actual control is one aspect. Sovereignty-" United Nations observer Eric started to speak, but was interrupted by Santos.
"Here are the sovereign documents." Santos placed a stack of documents on the table.
"... It takes time to test the legitimacy of sovereignty documents." Reston said solemnly, "What's more, don't you think we should pay more attention to the opinions of the people of the Sulu Islands than sovereignty? After all, in our opinion. Human rights are higher than sovereign rights."
"Really? Your standards always seem to be unpredictable. For example, in Ukraine, human rights are higher than sovereignty in the western states, and sovereignty is higher than human rights in the eastern states." Jiang Chen mocked.
Reston looked a little embarrassed and coughed slightly.
"What we are discussing now is the Sulu Islands issue."
"I propose a referendum on the full name. This is the fairest way." Jiang Chen said.
"No! Unless all Filipino people participate in the vote, the territory of the Philippines should be decided by all Filipinos!" Duterte shouted, slamming the table.
Just kidding, those unscrupulous people in the Sulu Islands have long wanted to separate. How can we allow them to vote on their own
"As Dieter said. It's like a house. Just because a person wants to separate his family, he can't demolish his bedroom unless everyone in the house agrees with his choice." This is Reston's first Once at the negotiating table it was in line with Dieter's opinion.
The Sulu Islands are the gateway from the Celebes Sea to the Sulu Sea. In a strategic sense, as long as the Moro Kingdom controls this area, Star Ring Trading warships will be able to sail into the hinterland of the Philippines at any time, and even advance into Manila Bay. In an economic sense, the Sulu Islands are located in the island arc belt of the western Pacific Ocean, and the nearby waters contain a large number of mineral deposits such as manganese nodules containing rare earth elements. Control by the Moro Kingdom is equivalent to control of the Star Ring trade. Therefore, regarding the issue of ownership of the Sulu Islands, Jiang Chen would not give in under any circumstances.
The first day of negotiations collapsed because of territorial issues.
The two sides just took a step back and reached a ceasefire agreement. Then they agreed to continue discussing peace negotiations tomorrow.
Territorial differences are not so easy to resolve, especially since the Aquino administration is unwilling to relent in any case. In this regard, Jiang Chen's approach was very "insidious". While negotiating, he was instructing Santos to open "visiting" channels for the families of 34,000 Filipino government captives in Zamboanga City in the western part of Mindanao. Relative visitors are allowed to enter the country and stay for up to two days to visit their detained relatives under the leadership of Moro soldiers.
This is good, these captives' families can still maintain their sanity when they don't see each other. As soon as I saw my son, husband, and boyfriend being imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp, I couldn't hold back my tears and sadness. Although these prisoners of war were not treated inhumanely. But after all, they all bear more or less miserable battle wounds.
Faced with pleas for release, the Moro Kingdom responded resolutely and forcefully.
"We long for peace. But we will never compromise with the enemy. If you want your relatives to go home, then go and ask your Aquino. The choice has always been in his hands. As long as he is willing to sign the peace agreement, We can also lay down our weapons and go home to reunite with our loved ones!"
We are victims too! We also long for peace! The hat of a villain was placed on Aquino's head naturally.
You can imagine what happened next with your toes.
The families of the soldiers who returned to the Philippines held up protest signs and shouted anti-war slogans, blocking the Philippine Presidential Palace and the residence of Aquino's dead body. The plight of the soldiers' families has received responses from other anti-war figures in the Philippines and citizens who have lost their source of livelihood due to the war. Waves of protests have come one after another, and each wave has surpassed the other. Jiang Chen's words Playing the card of warmth has achieved extraordinary results in the Philippines, whose economy has long been overwhelmed.
Only a small number of nationalists chanted the slogan of never compromising, fighting to the end, and dragging their father's country into trouble, and resolutely opposed Aquino's compromise on territorial issues. But these calls have been outweighed by thunder and rain. People are always fickle. In peacetime, they may clamor for war out of pride in their hearts, but in wartime, most of them will change their minds as their quality of life declines.
Since the signing of the ceasefire agreement, Starring Trading has been involved in the war for a total of seven days, but the Philippine currency has devalued by nearly 20% and prices have increased by 50%. The monkeys who were clamoring to crush the new country and turn the Panu Islands into a colony of the Philippines suddenly calmed down and began to reflect on their own lives and values.
Due to domestic pressure, the Aquino government finally returned to the negotiating table in humiliation after holding on for half a month.
The Philippines recognizes the independence of the Moro State. The Sulu Islands, Mindanao Island and part of the territorial waters belong to the Moro State. Five Philippine divisions withdrew their troops from Surigao del Norte Province in Mindanao.
In contrast, the frigates and submarines of Star Ring Trading withdrew from the Sulu Sea. Two Moro guerrilla divisions withdrew from Grand Bucas and Siargao islands in northern Mindanao, returning control of the area to the Philippines. At the same time, both the Moro Kingdom and the Philippines released their respective prisoners of war unconditionally.
As a result, the Moro Kingdom finally completed its decades-long demand for independence and became the 195th sovereign country in the world. The loss of the second largest island in the country after Luzon has devastated the Philippines.
And the Star Ring Trade that facilitated all of this has become their "sovereign country" and the biggest winner in this war.
Because the Star Ring Trade was a war that involved Saturday, and the war happened to end within a week, this war was also called the Saturday War by the international community. (.)