“It all springs from the fact that the relationship between the Philippines and the United States is firm, very strong”.
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While the nasty spat is not yet likely to damage the enduring relationship between the United States and the Philippines, and the countries’ strengthening military cooperation in the shadow of China’s rise, there is reason for Washington to be concerned.
It was reported in global news that US President Obama had cancelled a meeting with President Duterte of the Philippines after he called Mr Obama a “son of a whore“.
Duterte warned the American president not to question his ways over extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in the Philippines, which have been gaining scrutiny over the past months. Obama also announced the launch of a new website – Englishforall.state.gov – to bring more teachers to countries around world.
On Wednesday, the Philippine government released what it says are surveillance pictures of Chinese coast guard ships and barges at a disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea – heightening concern that China may expand its massive campaign of land construction that has alarmed neighbors and rival claimants.
“This is a guy that came in already with a deep-seated suspicion of the United States”, said Prashanth Parameswaran, associate editor of The Diplomat magazine and a Southeast Asia specialist.
In a statement on Tuesday, Duterte reiterated that the Philippines wants to chart an independent foreign policy “while promoting closer ties with all nations, especially the USA with which we have had a long standing relationship”.
The Philippines and US have shared over seven decades of diplomatic relations.
President Obama blamed the failure to pass a multinational trade agreement on the USA presidential election campaign Wednesday, saying it’s hard to get things done during political season.
UXO remains a stubborn problem in the region and experts say it could take decades to clear landmines and bombs in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, which were beset by conflicts in the 1960s and 1970s, and in Cambodia’s case, in the 1980s and 1990s too.
The official noted that Duterte was new to national leadership having served as a city mayor.
In a July meeting in the Laotian capital of Vientiane in the wake of the arbitration horseplay, Southeast Asian foreign ministers rejected anti-China incitements and called for settling maritime disputes through negotiations.
In his rant, Duterte also declared, “Son of a bitch, I will swear at you”, though he later claimed that remark was directed at a journalist and not at Obama. Spokesman Mark Toner said the USA would continue to call for due process.
“The tone of conversation between the nations seems to indicate that they recognise his influence, they recognise his political will, they recognise his firmness; they recognise his resolve, especially for example, to address drugs, the flow of illegal drugs”, Abella said, GMA News Online reports. “And that’s going to consistently be our message going forward”, Toner told reporters in Washington. The Philippines has traditionally relied heavily on US support when it comes to combating extremist groups.
The White House called off a scheduled meeting Tuesday with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippine – a USA treaty ally – after the brash new leader referred to Obama as a “son of a bitch”.
Rhodes insisted the US-Philippines alliance remained “rock solid”. The tribute follows a US pledge this week to finally clean the ordinance up. Local authorities contended that the man, believed to be a treasure hunter, was evacuated to the US without their consent.
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“I’m inspired by you”, he told one survivor, Thoummy Silamphan, who uses a prosthetic after losing a hand to one of the bombs.
