Big power geopolitics did not change with the advent of western democracies. No doubt if not ever made part of the United States Hawaii could easily have been made a colony of any great Asian power at any time. Hawii has the unfortunate circumstance of being rather small and could never be “idendent” for long once the world became more interconnected.
Why did we treat Hawaii different than The Phillipines?
Last I checked the Phillipines are still a US ally.
Yes. Hawaii is a strategic location. Some large power is going to own it whether the indigenous Hawaiians like it or not. We even allow them to have their racist “Hawaiians only” islands.