However, the White House had already cancelled the scheduled meeting that was due to take place with the two men attended the ASEAN summit in Laos.
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Making the first visit by a sitting US president, Obama said too few Americans know of the United States’ covert bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War.
Duterte has since expressed regret over his offensive remark.
Duterte said last month he expected all ASEAN members to support the arbitration court’s ruling, but that the Philippines would not raise the issue in Laos.
USA officials have also expressed deep concern over the possibility of China developing Scarborough into an island or starting to erect concrete structures there, which could reinforce Beijing’s control over a swath of the South China Sea.
Second, U.S. -Philippine ties are no sideshow.
When Duterte arrived in Laos that night, his tone had changed.
“I do not want to quarrel with him”.
“Washington has been so liberal about criticizing human rights, human rights and human rights”.
“How many died? Six hundred”, Duterte said Monday. “You just can not shoot a statement against the president of any country”.
The statement comes a day after U.S.President Barack Obama chose to cancel a meeting with the controversial leader, who characteristically lashed out in response to Obama’s relatively mild criticism of Duterte’s war on drugs, which is responsible for what some have claimed is over 2,000 extra-judicial killings since Duterte was sworn-in as president at the end of June.
Duterte has been under intense global scrutiny over the more than 2,000 suspected drug dealers and users killed since he took office in May.
“As a matter of fact, we inherited this problem from the United States”, he said.
Duterte, as he said, serves no one but the people of his country. You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. “Son of a bitch, I will swear at you”. And U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is also part of the “son of a bitch” club, after Ban said the drug killings were “illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms”. But to ignore what Duterte is saying by focusing on how he delivers his message is to make the same mistake as those who thought he was too rough, uncouth and vulgar to become president. Duterte said, adding that the Philippines had not received an apology from the United States for misdeeds committed during its colonization of the country.
He pointed to the killing of Muslim Moros more than a century ago during a US pacification campaign in the southern Philippines, blaming the wounds of the past as “the reason why (the south) continues to boil” with separatist insurgencies.
Instead, Obama now plans to meet later on Tuesday with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, said Ned Price, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, a meeting where the response to North Korea’s latest missile tests is expected to be on the agenda.
Duterte has had a troublesome relation with the United States, questioning its inability to stop genocidal killings in the Middle East and Africa, and citing USA police shootings of black Americans that have set off protests. The outreach is a core element of Obama’s attempt to shift USA diplomatic and military resources away from the Middle East and into Asia in order to counter China’s dominance in the region and ensure a foothold in growing markets.
Duterte is scrambling to smooth things over with the US, a longtime ally.
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The two Southeast Asian leaders likewise touched on the issue of the West Philippine Sea, including the freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, the need for a peaceful settlement of disputes, and role of former President Fidel Ramos as special envoy to China. -Philippine relations blossomed, expressed disappointment over the canceled meeting with Obama. The statement from Duterte’s spokesman said the “meeting has been mutually agreed upon to be moved to a later date”.
