'Post-Colonial Statecraft in South-East Asia does not refrain from debating issues with proponents of divergent schools of thought. This is a very significant book not only for Southeast Asia but also for students of China and its diaspora.' Jerzy Bayer, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar 'This book is a real gem. In crossing time and space, cultures and disciplines, as well as levels of analysis, the author pieces together a convincing argument that the Philippine government was able to contain, co-opt, and change the strongmen of the frontier provinces in upholding the country's sovereignty in the post-colonial era. As a meticulous researcher and master narrator, Dr. Wong has successfully tackled a serious ethno-political issue in a comparative light, while allowing time to discuss cock fights, pinball machines, and the mysterious death of Leonardo Mamba.' Gerald Chan, Chair & Professor of Political Studies, University of Auckland, New Zealand 'This signal book shows the intricacies and suggests the complexities of the long colonial history of the Philippines since the first arrival of the Spanish through the foundation of Manilla, the Spanish-American civil war of 1898 when the Philippines moved to the hand of the US and the period of dictatorship. Pak Nung indirectly shows the limit of European theories to deal with state formation after independence. States in ex-Euro- American colonies have to be creative to find their own political theories in decolonizing the European idea of the state.' Walter D. Mignolo, Director of the Center