October 24, 2016

"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte clarified Friday after returning from his trip to Beijing that when he said he wanted to separate from Washington, he did not mean a severing of diplomatic ties, but to no longer 'dovetail the foreign policy' of the US. Some Chinese then claimed that Duterte changed his attitude immediately after he got loans from China, and they have even made jokes mocking the president's inconsistency.

The concerns are real. But they can be dissolved by Duterte's latest clarification about US-Philippine relations.

Whatever wording Duterte used in China to comment on the past Washington-Manila ties, Chinese diplomats don't expect that the Philippines under his presidency will take any radical turns in its relationship with the US, such as terminating their alliance or closing down US bases."

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http://www.globaltimes.cn//content/1013259.shtml

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