14/09/2016
The Philippines’ newly minted president couldn’t have asked for a more high-profile diplomatic debut when he attended this week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, which saw the participation of the leaders from across the Asia Pacific, including the United States, Japan, China, Russia, and India, along with the secretary-general of the United Nations.
It was a unique opportunity for Rodrigo Duterte, the firebrand Filipino leader, to showcase a more statesmanlike demeanor, build his international profile, and seek support for the Philippines amid intensified disputes in the South China Sea. Duterte was also expected to officially accept the Philippines’ chairmanship of ASEAN for 2017—the grouping’s 50th anniversary—which carries significant symbolic value.
A scheduled meeting with President Barack Obama, who was on his final trip to Asia as president of the United States, was the most anticipated of Duterte’snine planned bilateral meetings during the summit. Yet, to the astonishment of even Duterte’s most avid followers, the Philippine leader couldn’t keep himself from uttering expletives against his U.S. counterpart, provoking uproar in Washington and across the global media landscape.
In response, Obama decided to cancel the bilateral meeting, raising concerns about a potential diplomatic crisis between Washington and Manila. The Duterte administration subsequently released a statement of “regret” and the White House said that U.S.-Philippine relations remain ”rock solid,” leading more sanguine observers to hope that the two allies had quickly settled the matter.
But such optimism is premature, as the dust-up could signal the start of a painful reconfiguration in Philippine-U.S. relations under Duterte. Bilateral relations are too institutionalized to be disrupted by a short-term diplomatic hiccup, but they no longer look as special and sacrosanct as before.
More than Meets the Eye:
Duterte represents many firsts for the Philippines. He is the first president from conflict-ridden Mindanao, which is racked by insurgences, constantly plays host to American-assisted counter-terror operations, and suffers from a massive development deficit. He is the first Filipino leader who is a self-described “socialist,” with deep ties to leftist progressive groups which have gained unprecedented access to the upper echelons of power within the Duterte administration. And he is the first Philippine president with a policy agenda focused almost exclusively on law and order, particularly the fight against illegal drugs. Added to these firsts is his penchant for off-the-cuff statements, spontaneous rants, and long-winded tirades, which have embarrassed polite society but deeply endeared him to the disillusioned lower-classes.
Crucially for the United States, Duterte is also the first Philippine president to have so explicitly called for a more independent foreign policy. Upon his election, Duterte declared, “I will be charting a [new] course [for the Philippines] on its own and will not be dependent on the United States.” It was a brazen and audacious policy pronouncement in a profoundly pro-American society, where much of the intelligentsia and security forces feel deep affinity with the United States.
A reliable iconoclast, Duterte has consistently encouraged diplomatic outreach to China, which is deeply unpopular in the Philippines, specifically in light of the South China Sea disputes. For Duterte, confrontation with China is not only futile but foolish. He is interested in reviving heavily-strained bilateral ties, with a focus on inviting back large-scale Chinese infrastructure investment.
It is highly likely that Duterte will choose Beijing for his first official state visit, a remarkable departure from his predecessors, who usually chose Washington as their first diplomatic destination. Meanwhile, Duterte has adopted a hardline position against any criticism of his “shock and awe” anti-crime campaign, which has drawn negative reaction from the United Nations, the United States, and international media. No wonder, then, that Duterte felt provoked when President Obama made it clear that he would raise human rights concerns in their planned bilateral meeting.
Earlier Duterte had threatened, in dark humor, to pull his country out of the United Nations if the latter pushed ahead with human rights-related investigations in the Philippines. He also shunned any formal meeting with UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.
.........................
Read more at National Interest
Click here for updated South China Sea news
In the past few years, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has been expanding its activities in the South China Sea in particular and the Indo-Pacific in general.
On July 5, a week before hosting the 2023 NATO Summit, Lithuania released its own Indo-Pacific Strategy, becoming the 6th European country to devise such document (after France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the Czech Republic, if not including the EU). A few observations could be made from a...
On the 7th anniversary of the final ruling rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal in the arbitration between the Philippines and China concerning the South China Sea (July 12, 2016 - July 12, 2023), some countries, including claimants and non-claimants, issued statements expressing their positions regarding...
On 28 April, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued its final Judgment on the dispute concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, finally ending the dispute that had lasted for over three years. Both Mauritius...
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu officially visited Russia from April 15th to April 17th, 2023. The visit was closely monitored by the West due to their belief that the increasingly closer relationship between China and Russia, both politically and militarily, may result in China’s decision to provide...
---Copy.png&w=200)
