Duterte Wants Stronger Ties With Asean, Not TPP

President Duterte called yesterday for stronger ties with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rather than with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) being pushed by US President Barack Obama.

 
Duterte underscored the importance of bolstering relations among ASEAN members, as he led the ceremonial sendoff in Sual, Pangasinan yesterday for 17 Vietnamese fishermen, who were caught poaching in Philippine waters in early September.

In his speech, Duterte enjoined Vietnam and all other ASEAN members to bond together to be stronger in the region.

“That is why we place importance in the ASEAN – because we are neighboring (countries)… and we have to sometimes do something to protect our interests,” he said. “One thing, we should not forget that self-respect and dignity are important with the Orientals.”

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Duterte, who has declared his intent to craft a foreign policy with less dependence on the United States, hit the rich western nations anew for what he sees as their efforts to control trade in both sides of the world.

“You know, the EU (European Union) would want the best for them. Sometimes, they intrude into our part, and then America wants to control both sides of the Atlantic and the Pacific. They want the Pan-Pacific partnership,” Duterte said.

He was apparently referring to international trade group TPP, which now has 12 members: US, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru.

On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Manila last November, Obama batted for support for TPP, as he met with leaders of the trade group’s member-nations.

The post Duterte Wants Stronger Ties With Asean, Not TPP appeared first on Philippine Star.

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