Duterte was due to hold a bilateral meeting with Obama on Tuesday afternoon on the sidelines of a gathering of global leaders hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, the capital of the Laos. His visit is a first for a sitting US president, and Obama used his address to acknowledge the impact the Vietnam War had – and is still having – on Laos. The Philippines, which initiated the summit, was blindsided.
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“President Duterte explained that the press reports that the (U.S.) President (Barack) Obama would “lecture” him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern”.
The president arrived in Laos late Monday after attending the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China, for a series of Asian summit meetings this week that will focus on security, terrorism, natural disasters and other regional issues. “You must be respectful”.
A statement from Duterte’s office Tuesday claimed the “son of the bitch” insult was aimed at the journalist whose question prompted the fiery response and not at Obama.
But following the Obama backlash yesterday, Duterte offered a rare moment of contrition, albeit qualified. “And the Philippines is a treaty ally of ours”.
In June, UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon also denounced Duterte’s approach to drug crime, saying that extrajudicial killings were “illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms”. His tough stance may be an attempt to shore up support at home. Some suspect Beijing is starting reclamation work on the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
Second, U.S. -Philippine ties are no sideshow.
He has also taken a more conciliatory position with US rival China. The nations agreed to move the meeting to a later date, he added. After the U.N criticized his tough response, Duterte came up with a simple solution: threatening on August 21 to leave the world body if it tries to police him at home again. A summit still could happen Wednesday or Thursday.
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And Duterte has sought to heal relations with China rather than inflame them by pressing the tribunal’s ruling. “The Philippines is China’s neighbor”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters Tuesday. Rhodes said “people should certainly expect that our very close working relationship with the Philippines is going to be enduring”. The country is trying to ease Manila’s stance through bilateral negotiations. He’s visited the country twice in his second term, and announced on a stop there in November the return of a US military presence at a critical naval base on the South China Sea.
