October 18, 2016

"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's ongoing trip to China has been seen as a gamble by the American media. Their astonished reaction clearly shows the selfish considerations of the US and its Western allies on the South China Sea issue. They take Philippine willingness to be a loyal part of the US alliance system as granted.

While providing security to the Philippines, Washington treats Manila as a pawn. The alliance requires the Philippines to serve US interests. To Washington, the Philippines' value lies in providing military bases and legitimacy for the US containment of China in the South China Sea. As to the price Manila has to pay, it isn't a problem at all for Washington.

We don't foresee that the Philippines under the Duterte administration will break with the US. The majority of Chinese scholars on international strategy don't think it will ever happen. Duterte appears more to be striving for increased diplomatic autonomy. Instead of serving Washington's rebalance to the Asia-Pacific strategy, he is redesigning Philippine foreign policy based on Philippine interests."

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