Before traveling to Laos for regional summits, Duterte said Monday that Obama should not question him about the rising death toll in his war on drugs, which has been criticized overseas and by Duterte’s opponents in the Philippines. He says the consequences of decisions made by the US during the Vietnam War didn’t necessarily serve America’s interests.
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Well the generals under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have not been successful, he said. Asked to acknowledge he would not be able to fulfil his campaign promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, Mr Obama pushed back. He says the facility is unnecessary, is too expensive and serves as a recruitment tool for terrorist organizations.
Obama tells reporters in Laos that he thinks diplomacy is “serious business” and that Trump’s ideas are often “contradictory” and “outright wacky”.
The 28th and 29th summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and related summits on Thursday concluded here, with the 10-nation bloc and all its partners eyeing more concrete moves in the future to realize the ASEAN Community Vision 2025.
Obama and Duterte are in the Laotian capital along with other regional leaders for the summit. On a trip to Asia previous year, Obama announced new defence and security partnerships and investments.
At the top of that list is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation free trade deal Obama helped broker. Obama called off the meeting.
“The Philippines and the USA have a longstanding partnership [and] relationship”.
On his last day in Asia, Obama met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose help Obama is seeking to galvanize further action on climate change, especially among developing countries. The two grinned and shook hands but made no substantive comments as reporters were allowed in briefly for the start of their meeting. He has said he is charting a foreign policy not dependent on the USA, and has moved to reduce tensions with China over rival territorial claims.
Obama said both of their governments should work together to advance relations between their two countries.
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On Thursday, Obama said that Duterte’s intemperate remarks had “no impact on our broader relationship with the Filipino people”. He said that in recent years, the US and Asia had solidified “unprecedented” cooperation that will create more prosperity for their peoples. But he says the US wants these disputes to be resolved peacefully and will keep working to help make that happen.
