October 25, 2016

"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's announcement during his Beijing trip last week that he will cut military and economic ties with the US has aroused much speculation. This is not the first time that the new president used anti-US rhetoric since he was sworn in. He emphasized that he was 'not a fan' of the US and vowed to chart an independent foreign policy. He even asked US Special Forces stationed in the Mindanao region to leave and said he would review the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement that Manila signed with Washington in 2014. Does this mean that the US-Philippine alliance is coming to an end? Not really.

There are indeed conflicts between Duterte and the US government. His harsh crackdown on drug crimes in the Philippines has obviously harmed ties with the US. Washington has underestimated to some extent the importance that combating crimes means to the Duterte administration and at the same time come under lots of pressure from domestic human rights organizations and media. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has condemned the new Philippine government many times and urged Washington to reduce assistance to Manila. In the 33 press briefings of the US State Department between August and September, questions related to the Philippines were raised 10 times, with five about the Philippine human rights situation and two about diplomatic clashes between the US ambassador to Manila and the Duterte government. The frequent involvement in Philippine internal affairs by the US government and social groups has upset Duterte. "

Read more:

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1013692.shtml 

NISCSS does not necessarily share in or endorse the opinions of off-site commentators.