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US Pentagon official’s Manila speech exposes alliance fragility, with Philippines likely to bear costs of provocations: Chinese expert_我的网站

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    Illustrated materials related to Japan’s invasion of China, brought back from Japan by Marcus Detrez and Zhong Haosong, are displayed at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, on August 15, 2026. Photo: Shen Sheng/GT
August 15 this year marks the 81st anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender in World War II. A ceremony themed “Nanjing Will Never Forget” was held on Saturday at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province. 
At the ceremony, a batch of newly acquired artifacts, historical materials, and documents related to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, including Japanese soldiers’ private letters, wartime postcards, educational materials on gas warfare, news compilations and French diplomatic archives, was officially added to the memorial hall's collection.
Overseas‑sourced historical archives drew wide attention among the donated materials. French youth Marcus Detrez, his compatriot Bastien Rata and Chinese youth Zhong Haosong jointly donated a set of historical documents on Japan’s aggression against China from the French diplomatic archives in Nantes, as well as Japanese‑language materials they had collected in Japan.
    Zhong Haosong (left), Bastien Rata (center) and Marcus Dretz (right) visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, on August 15, 2026. Photo: Shen Sheng/GTAccording to Bastien, the French diplomatic archives brought back this time total 891 pages. They are organized by province and cover wartime historical events in Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other areas. The archives document relevant situations during Japan’s invasion of China, while also preserving observations by French diplomatic personnel on Chinese society during the wartime period.
Marcus told Global Times on Saturday that, through these archives and related research, they have gained a deeper understanding of the brutality of the Nanjing Massacre. He said that collecting these materials was also aimed at conducting more educational work to help more people learn about this period of history.
The materials brought back from Japan by Zhong include albums of documentary paintings of the Japanese invasion of China by artists accompanying the invading Japanese army, privately taken photo albums of the invading Japanese troops, and original publications from the same period, including the Asahi Shimbun. These materials all come from original Japanese records.
The overseas historical materials were collected over an extended period. Zhong said they contacted sources online and searched through antique and secondhand book channels while continuing to collect materials in Japan.
The new collection on Saturday also includes materials gathered by Chinese youths. High school student Yu Ningpeng and Xu Weizhe donated 12 private letters written by a soldier of the 20th Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army’s 16th Division, documenting his experiences during the invasion of China. One letter, dated December 20, 1937, contains accounts related to the Japanese occupation of Nanjing.
Meng Guoxiang, a researcher at the Institute for National Memory and International Peace Studies, told the Global Times at the event on Saturday that historical research places great importance on the sources of historical materials, with original archives holding significant value. 
Some of the materials donated this time were records left by the perpetrators themselves, while archives from third-party countries such as France provide another perspective, Meng said, adding that cross-checking materials from different sources can help build a more complete body of evidence.
Notably, alongside the handover of the latest batch of archival materials, the memorial hall also held a ceremony to induct the fifth group of inheritors of the historical memory of the Nanjing Massacre. Six people were named as the latest inheritors, including descendants of Nanjing Massacre survivors, descendants of eyewitnesses, and descendants of international friends. They help pass on historical memory through family traditions, educational activities and efforts to raise public awareness of history.
In recent years, a growing number of post-1990s and post-2000s private collectors, as well as foreign nationals, have joined efforts to collect historical materials, a trend that has deeply moved and impressed Zhou Feng, curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, he told the Global Times.
    A staff member arranges archival materials documenting Japan’s invasion of China brought back from Japan by Marcus Detrez and others at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, on August 15, 2026. Photo: Shen Sheng/GT
Zhou said that preserving history and historical records was once widely seen as the responsibility of museums, cultural institutions and professional scholars; however, today, more and more private collectors are taking the initiative, spending their own money to collect historical materials scattered across China and overseas. 
Historical memory, he said, needs to be passed down from one generation to the next. The donors come from different generations, nationalities and backgrounds, but share a common respect for historical truth and commitment to justice.
Since the beginning of this year, the memorial hall’s Nanjing Massacre Documents Center has launched a global campaign to collect relevant historical materials, receiving support from various sectors both in China and abroad. Nearly 100 donors from China and overseas have so far contributed materials to the memorial hall, Zhou said.
。         Illustration: Liu Rui/GTUS Pentagon official Elbridge Colby's latest Manila speech, in which he called on allies to "invest more" in their own defense and stressed that Washington wants "partners, not protectorates," has drawn attention from some Philippine media. Colby's claims also expose the fragility of the Manila-Washington alliance and Washington's push to enlist "Indo-Pacific" allies in serving its own strategic interests, a Chinese expert said, warning that the Philippines, by placing itself on the front line of provocations against China, risks being a geopolitical pawn left to bear the consequences on its own.
While delivering a speech at the Stratbase Institute in Manila, Philippines, on Monday, Colby, the Under Secretary of War for Policy, laid out the US' so-called "flexible realism" approach to the Indo-Pacific, stressing that the US is "definitely not disengaging from Asia" but strengthening its forward posture and seeking to build a "denial defense" along the First Island Chain, according to a transcript of the speech released on the US Department of War website.
At the same time, he called on US allies and partners to step up, invest more in their own defense, and take responsibility for their own sovereign security. "We are looking for partners, not protectorates," Colby claimed.
The claims have drawn attention from some Philippine media outlets, with some linking them to the South China Sea issue. However, the transcript of Colby's speech showed that he did not mention China, the Global Times found. 
A Manila Bulletin report noted that after calling on allies to invest more in defense, Colby cited the Philippines as an example of the "kind of partner Washington wants to work with." He praised Manila for "strengthening its military and coast guard capabilities while deepening operational cooperation with the US" amid what the report described as China's "aggression" in the South China Sea.
Colby's visit to Manila marked his first official trip to Southeast Asia as an undersecretary under the Trump administration. He is scheduled to travel from Manila to Jakarta, Indonesia; Bangkok, Thailand; and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, said the report.
Meanwhile, a Manila Standard report interpreted Colby's remarks as showing that "the US is working closely with the Philippines" to strengthen Manila's military capabilities and protect its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, despite the fact that Colby did not mention China in his speech.
The US appears to be adopting a more retrenchment-style approach, shifting from leading directly to relying on regional allies to take the frontline role while providing support. This approach allows Washington to advance its interests while lowering its own costs, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times.
Song noted that Washington seeks to use repeated maritime frictions to tie down Chinese resources, which helps explain Colby's praise for Manila: the Philippines bears part of Washington's strategic burden while receiving largely rhetorical US support.
A South China Morning Post report on Tuesday noted that Colby avoided mentioning the recent disputes over Huangyan Dao, despite Washington having criticized China's establishment of a nature reserve there just two days earlier. The report described the omission as a "measured tone" ahead of a potential meeting between the Chinese and US leaders.
Washington's primary concern is its own interests. At the core of its "Indo-Pacific strategy" is strengthening its alliance network by pushing partners such as the Philippines to shoulder greater security burdens in pursuit of US strategic goals. As US-China diplomatic dynamics evolve, countries serving as Washington's geopolitical spearheads in confrontations with China risk being left behind, said some observers.
Song noted that this also reveals the fragility of the US-Philippine relationship.
The US has encouraged the Philippines to take the front line in confrontations with China while offering mostly rhetorical support. Should tensions escalate, Manila would bear much of the cost on its own, said the expert. 
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