Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday he did not mean he
would cut off ties with the United States when he said in China that he
was separating from the US, adding it’s in his country’s best interest
to stay with America.
Despite the clarification, the tough-talking president kept up on his
tirades against the US, saying in a late-night speech in his southern
hometown of Davao city that he would never travel to America “in this
lifetime.”
At an economic forum Thursday in Beijing, where he made a state
visit, Duterte declared “my separation from the United States … both in
military and economics also.” His pronouncement was met with applause,
but Duterte did not explain what he exactly intended to do and when.
Duterte, however, said in an arrival speech in Davao that he was not
severing ties with his country’s treaty ally that is home to a large
number of Filipino expatriates.
“When you say severance of ties, you cut the diplomatic relations. I
cannot do that. Why? It’s to the best interest of my country that we
maintain that relationship,” Duterte said, adding that Filipinos were
not ready to embrace such an option.
What he meant by his remarks in China, Duterte said, was ending a Philippine foreign policy that closely leaned toward the US.
Ahead of his China visit, Duterte made a series of pronouncements to
curb Philippine security engagements with the US, including the removal
of American counterterrorism forces in the country’s south and his
opposition to planned joint patrols with the US Navy in the South China
Sea. He also wanted to stop annual joint combat exercises the
Philippines hosted alongside the US military that China opposes.
Duterte has said he did not want to embroil the Philippines in an
unwinnable war with China, which could instead be tapped as a major
trading partner and source of development funds.
US officials said they have not received any formal Philippine notice
of Duterte’s pronouncements, adding the alliance benefits both
countries and should continue to blossom.
However, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday there had
been “too many troubling public statements” by Duterte in recent months
leading to uncertainty about his intent. He said that the top US
diplomat for East Asia would discuss that uncertainty when he travels to
the Philippines this weekend.
US-Philippine ties also got attention on the US presidential campaign
trail Friday. Republican candidate Donald Trump told a rally in North
Carolina that the Philippine shift toward closer relations with China
after decades of a pro-US foreign policy showed that “America has grown
weak.”
He said that the Philippines is a “very important strategic ally” and China and Russia “are probably going to take it.”
Duterte’s reaching out to China, which has been locked in
longstanding territorial disputes with the Philippines in the South
China Sea, and his severe criticisms of the US have come under fire at
home.
Former Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, who brought
the triumphant arbitration case against China over the disputes, said
Duterte’s shift from Washington to Beijing should be regarded “a
national tragedy.”
“The declared shift in foreign policy, casting aside a long-time
reliable ally to hastily embrace an aggressive neighbor that vehemently
rejects international law, is both unwise and incomprehensible,” del
Rosario said in a statement.
“What is unfolding before us must be considered a national tragedy, which does not need to happen,” he said.
The criticism by del Rosario, a respected Asian diplomat, is among
the strongest so far of Duterte’s declared policy to back away from
America while reaching out to China and Russia. His main political ally,
former President Fidel Ramos, has also criticized Duterte’s profane
tirades against President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon.
As the foreign secretary of Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino
III, del Rosario spearheaded the filing of an arbitration case that
challenged the validity of China’s claims to virtually the entire South
China Sea. In its July ruling, the tribunal invalidated China’s claims
under a 1982 UN treaty in an embarrassing defeat that Beijing has
ignored.
The US and its Western and Asian allies have called on China to respect the outcome.
At the end of Duterte’s trip to China, both countries announced in a
joint statement several trade and business deals and closer cooperation
on a range of concerns. They added they have resumed dialogue on the
South China Sea.
There was no mention of the arbitration ruling or Duterte’s call for
China to respect the rights of Filipinos to fish in the disputed
Scarborough Shoal, where Beijing’s coast guard ships continue to drive
them away. But both sides agreed to continue talking.
“Without prejudice to other mechanisms, a bilateral consultation
mechanism can be useful, which will meet regularly on current and other
issues of concern to either side on the South China Sea,” the joint
statement said.
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