China delays key business meeting with new friend Philippines

The Chinese government announced Thursday the postponement of an important joint commerce meeting with the Philippines.

The meeting is key to the rapprochement between the two countries that started with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's visit to Beijing in October.

Source: EFE

U.S. diplomat says Philippines an ally, but drug killings a concern

The most senior U.S. diplomat for Asia assured the Philippines on Monday that Washington remained its "trusted" ally and that it supported Manila's blossoming ties with China.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel however warned that growing concern about drug-related killings in the Southeast Asian country was "bad for business".

Russel was the first high-level visitor from Washington after President Rodrigo Duterte provoked alarm last week by announcing his country's "separation" from the United States and realignment with China while on a visit to Beijing.

Explaining Duterte's "Goodbye America" remarks, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said on Saturday the United States remained the "closest friend" of the Philippines, but Manila wanted to break away from a "mindset of dependency and subservience" and forge closer ties with other nations.

Russel, speaking to reporters after meeting Yasay, said Duterte "has already walked back".

He said Washington supported direct dialogue and negotiations between the Philippines and China. "So, it's a mistake to think that improved relations between Manila and Beijing somehow come at the expense of the U.S.," he said.

"We don’t want countries to have to choose between the U.S. and China."

During his meeting with the Philippine foreign minister, Russel however said he expressed his concern the "succession of controversial statements, comments and a real climate of uncertainty about the Philippines’ intentions has created consternation in a number of countries".

He added, "This is not a positive trend."

Duterte has been scathing about U.S. criticism of his anti-drugs campaign in which about 2,300 people have been killed since he took office on June 30.

Russel said the United States supported Manila's anti-narcotics campaign, but due process and human rights should not be disregarded.

"The growing uncertainty about this and other issues is bad for business," he said. "This is a very competitive region."

Russel's trip to Manila is part of a three-nation swing through Southeast Asia that also includes Thailand and Cambodia, the U.S. State Department announced on its website.

Source: Reuters

Duterte didn't really mean 'separation' from U.S., Philippine officials say

Philippine officials sought on Friday to play down comments by President Rodrigo Duterte who announced his "separation" from the United States a day earlier, saying their country will maintain U.S. trade and economic ties.

Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he was paving the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with long-time ally Washington deteriorate.

He told Chinese and Philippine business people at a forum in the Great Hall of the People that America had "lost now".

"I've realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines and Russia. It's the only way.

"With that, in this venue, your honors, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States. Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also."

Duterte's efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in the Hague ruled that Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous administration in Manila, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old former mayor took office on June 30.

Trade Minister Ramon Lopez sought to explain Duterte's comments.

"Let me clarify. The president did not talk about separation," Lopez told CNN Philippines in Beijing.

"In terms of economic (ties), we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region which we have been trading with for centuries," he said, referring to the Association of South East Asian Nations.

He said the Philippines was "breaking being too much dependent on one side".

"But we definitely won't stop the trade and investment activities with the West, specifically the U.S."

Duterte's spokesman, Ernesto Abella, said the president's announcement was a "restatement" on his bid to chart an independent foreign policy.

Duterte wanted to "separate the nation from dependence on the U.S. and the West and rebalance economic and military relations with Asian neighbors" like China, Japan and South Korea, Abella said in statement.

Underscoring that, the Chinese and Philippines defense ministers meet in Beijing on the sidelines of Duterte's visit, and pledged to restore security ties, China's Defence Ministry said.

ANTI-U.S. PROTEST

Duterte's tone toward China is in stark contrast to the language he has used against the United States, after being infuriated by U.S. criticism of his bloody war on drugs.

He has called U.S. President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch" and told him to "go to hell". On Wednesday, about 1,000 anti-U.S. protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Manila calling for the removal of U.S. troops from a southern island.

Hundreds of left-wing demonstrators burned a replica of the U.S. flag at a rally in Manila on Friday as they called for an end to U.S. military agreements.

The United States, a former colonial power, has seen Manila as an important ally in its "rebalance" to Asia in the face of a rising China. The U.S. Embassy press attache in Manila, Molly Koscina, said Duterte's statements were creating uncertainty.

"We've seen a lot of this sort of troubling rhetoric recently," she told Reuters in an email.

"We have yet to hear from the Philippine government what Duterte's remarks on 'separation' might mean, but it is creating unnecessary uncertainty."

She also said the United States would honor alliance commitments and treaty obligations with the Philippines.

"And, of course, we expect the Philippines to do the same."

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Washington intended to keep to its alliance commitments to the Philippines.

"Obviously any relationship is one of mutuality and we will continue to discuss that with our Philippine counterparts," he told reporters on a flight to Turkey.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, asked in Beijing about Duterte's comments, said countries should not resort to win-lose mentalities.

"We should not have Cold War thinking, it's either you or me, you win I lose, that kind of zero-sum game," she told a regular press briefing.

"We have always developed relations with other countries in the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, mutually win-win, not aimed at, not excluding and not affecting other countries developing normal relations with each other."

Wrangling over territory in the South China Sea, where Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims, has consumed China-Philippines relations in recent years.

China claims most of the waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year, and in 2012 it seized the disputed Scarborough Shoal and denied Philippine fishermen access to its fishing grounds.

In a statement issued by China's Xinhua news agency, China and the Philippines said it was important to address differences in the South China Sea "without resorting to the threat or use of force".

Source: Reuters

Philippine defense chief says Duterte may be 'misinformed' on U.S. alliance

The Philippine defense minister sought to patch up cracks in a military alliance with the United States on Wednesday, saying President Rodrigo Duterte, who has appeared intent on scrapping joint programs, might be misinformed about their value.

Referring to recent strongly worded comments by Duterte, in which he has declared that the Philippines military gained little from U.S. security ties, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the armed forces were still weak and the country got a lot out of the U.S. relationship.

"That's why I said the president was misinformed, because I think the information he is getting is incomplete," Lorenzana told reporters, a day after the launch of the latest round of PHIBLEX military exercises involving troops from both sides.

"Maybe, the defense ministry and the armed forces were remiss in providing him the correct information. This, we will address in the coming days."

The United States has been on the receiving end of a torrent of hostility from Duterte, who was angered by U.S. expressions of concern over his war on drugs.

On Tuesday, Duterte said U.S. President Barack Obama should "go to hell" and that in his time, he might "break up" with Washington, with which Manila has had a security treaty since 1951.

Last week, he also caused a stir when he said the PHIBLEX exercises would be "the last one" and on Sunday said a U.S.-Philippines Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement would be reviewed.

That deal includes setting up storage facilities for maritime security, humanitarian and disaster response operations and grants U.S. troops some access to Philippine bases.

Lorenzana said the ongoing exercises gave Philippine troops exposure to new guns, technology and body armor and training in warfare tactics, marksmanship and quick responses to natural disasters.

"According to him, only the American troops are benefiting from those exercises," he said, referring to his president.

"But based on what we gathered from the GHQ (general headquarters) and army, there are (benefits)."

U.S. officials have played down Duterte's remarks, focusing instead on the decades-long alliance which they have sought to bolster in recent years in response to China's moves to enforce its claims over the South China Sea.

The White House said on Tuesday the United States had not received any formal communications from Duterte's government about changing the relationship.

Source: Reuters

Duterte draws parallel with Hitler, wants to kill 3 million drug addicts

Comparing himself to Adolf Hitler, the Philippine president said Friday he wants to kill the three million drug addicts he says his country has, in remarks following his return from an official two-day trip to Vietnam.

"Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts... I'd be happy to slaughter them," said Rodrigo Duterte before the press, according to an official transcript from his office.

He said that the way Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have "my victims" - referring to criminals - as a means "to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition."

The leader also renewed his attack against the United States and the European Union for their criticism of his violent anti-drugs campaign, which official figures say has left over 3,500 people dead since June 30, three month ago Friday, when Duterte assumed office.

He said unlike the US and the EU, he had never liked "hypocricy," directed at criticizing their response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

He wondered how while they (US, EU) close their doors to migrants escaping from the Middle East, allowing them "to rot," they worry about the deaths of a few thousands in the Philippines.

Recent weeks have seen the president openly hit out at the US, the United Nations and the EU in retaliation for their condemnation of human rights violations in the Philippine war against drugs.

Earlier, Duterte refused to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, terming the world body useless, and even threatened to pull out the Philippines from the organization.

The current president came to power after an overwhelming victory in the presidential elections held in May, riding on a vow to wipe out drugs and crime within six months of coming to power.

On several occasions since, he has urged Police and citizens to kill drug traffickers as well as consumers.

Source: EFE

Philippines' Duterte wants to 'open alliances' with Russia, China

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday he would visit Russia and China this year to chart an independent foreign policy and "open alliances" with two powers with historic rivalries with the United States.

Duterte said the Philippines was at the "point of no return" in its relations with former colonial ruler the United States, so he wanted to strengthen ties with others, and picked two global powers with which Washington has been sparring with on the international political stage.

He last week declared he would soon - and often - visit China, with which ties remain frosty over a South China Sea arbitration ruling won by the Philippines in July. He said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was expecting him in Moscow.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

An arbitration court in The Hague in July invalidated China's claims to the waterway in a case brought by the Philippines, a ruling that Beijing refuses to recognize.

"I am ready to not really break (U.S.) ties but we will open alliances with China and... Medvedev, he is awaiting there for my visit," Duterte told reporters, adding he would open up the "other side of the ideological barrier".

He welcomed investment and shrugged off rating agency Standard and Poor's concerns last week about the Philippine economy on his watch and his unpredictability.

"Never mind about the ratings," he said. "I will open up the Philippines for them to do business, alliances of trade and commerce."

The peso fell to its lowest since 2009 on Monday and foreign investors have dumped local shares for six straight weeks, worried about Duterte's anti-U.S. rhetoric and brutal war on drugs, which has alarmed rights groups at home and abroad.

Duterte also said he would open up telecoms and airlines, which are two domestic sectors long controlled by local players and criticized for being uncompetitive. He did not elaborate.

The volatile leader's vitriol against the United States has become a near-daily occurrence and source of both amusement and concern. On Monday he accused Washington of "hypocrisy" and said Americans were still "lording it over us".

His latest swipe included ruling out participation in a maritime conflict should it be initiated by the United States, despite a 1951 treaty between the two countries under which Duterte said Manila was legally obligated to back Washington.

"I am about to cross the Rubicon between me and the U.S.," he said," without elaborating. "It's the point of no return."

It is unclear whether Duterte's outbursts will impact relations between the two counties. Militaries of both sides are due to carry out joint exercises in the first half of October.

The U.S. embassy in Manila on Monday announced two-week deployment of a pair of C130 planes and 100 troops at an air base in the central Philippines, the third of its kind this year, as part of a rotational troops agreement.

Separately, Duterte said the United Nations, European Union and United States would get a free hand to investigate the killings in his anti-narcotics campaign, but only under Philippine laws.

Deaths in the campaign have averaged over 40 a day since Duterte took office on June 30.

Source: Reuters

Philippines president rails against EU over criticism

The president of the Philippines has responded harshly to criticism by the European Union directed at his violent anti-drug campaign that has killed at least 3,500 people in the country since he took office on June 30.

"(Now) the European Union has the gall to condemn it. I repeat it - fxxx you," President Rodrigo Duterte said during a speech Monday night in southern Davao City, while showing his middle finger, according to local daily Philstar on Wednesday.

Duterte's latest outburst follows a resolution by the European Parliament on Thursday that expressed concern about the high number of deaths being caused by the Philippine leader's anti-drug campaign.

In the resolution, the European Parliament urged "the Government of the Philippines to put an end to the current wave of extrajudicial executions and killings" and "adopt specific, comprehensive policies and programs".

The EU condemnation, according to Duterte, stems from a sense of guilt for the crimes committed by European countries.

"Who did I kill? 1,700 here? You call that genocide? How many have they killed?" Duterte thundered.

Duterte also said France and Britain are extending support to the United States in conducting attacks against countries in the Middle East, which have also caused a high number of casualties.

When the US similarly criticized Duterte's aggressive war on drugs, Duterte had called it a "hypocrite" country, referring to the massacre committed by the US in the southern Philippines at the beginning of the 20th century.

Close to 3,500 alleged drug traffickers and addicts have died since Duterte began his mandate, among whom around 1,500 died in police encounters and the remaining were killed by vigilante groups, according to latest police data.

Source: EFE