Deny Giovanno, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia who was a law student there when Obama visited in 2010, recalls only minor details from the president’s hour-long speech in the university’s field house.
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The two leaders were supposed to meet one-on-one on Tuesday, but Obama cancelled the meeting after Duterte warned him and other leaders against questioning his bloody anti-drug campaign with the words “son of a bitch”. The White House then said Obama might speak with Duterte informally.
He will also meet with other regional leaders before departing on Thursday, marking the end of his eleventh and final trip to Asia as US president. Back home, his struggles are viewed through the unforgiving lens of election-year politics.
What was behind Philippine president’s “son of a whore” remark to Obama? But the miscues illustrate how poor planning, or even plain bad luck, can undermine a president’s performance overseas. U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter described the relationship as “strong” and “longstanding”.
The brief meeting took a little sting out of the soured relations caused by Duterte’s intemperate language in referring to Obama earlier this week. “We felt that did not create a constructive environment for a bilateral meeting”.
Asked if there would be any consequences on the US military aid to the Philippines or on the Phl-US alliance, Toner said, “I don’t have anything to announce in that regard”.
US President Barack Obama, who is visiting Laos for an annual ASEAN summit, yesterday mentioned Taiwan as an example of a flourishing Asian democracy during an address on the sidelines of the summit.
“But we’re going to continue to say that there must be due process, there must be ways to fight against drugs that are consistent with global standards and norms”, he said.
Duterte seemed eager to defuse the situation. It said that Duterte “continues to value the Philippines’ ties with the United States despite his profanity-laced remarks against” the USA president. “In good times and bad, you can count on the United States of America”, Obama said.
“We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions”, the statement released on Tuesday read.
Obama said to keep the peace and deter aggression, the United States has deployed more of its most advanced military capabilities to the region, including ships and aircraft to Singapore.
Obama is touring a rehabilitation center in Laos that treats victims of bombs the USA dropped during the Vietnam War.
But the administration has more to worry about than the political impact of Duterte’s diatribe. The Republican presidential candidate appears to have softened some of his rhetoric and policy positions in hope of appealing to the wider electorate, and Duterte may have to follow suit, albeit for different reasons.
VIENTIANE • The Philippines has released images that it said showed Chinese ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal that were capable of dredging sand and other activities required to build an artificial island. That is a message Obama would likely have given Duterte in person. -Philippine relationship remains intact. The diatribe against Obama, he said, was “knee-jerk as an outburst, but calculated to produce a certain breathing space for negotiations with China”.
There was no immediate confirmation from the White House.
“He’s new to the job”.
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President Barack Obama is continuing his historic visit to Laos with a trip to the city of Luang Prabang.
