Cebu_4_2
21st October 2016, 05:21 AM
So much for ex-patriots...
Duterte: “The Philippines is now dependent to China for all time”
BEIJING — On Wednesday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said it was “time to say goodbye” to the United States.
So on Thursday, he said a cheery hello to China. In meetings that followed months of anti-U.S. rhetoric, Duterte and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, met at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, promising to move from bitter fighting to close friendship. The leaders did not reach a deal on the South China Sea, as some predicted, but did agree to bilateral talks — a striking turnaround for the Philippine side. They also signed 13 agreements, cementing plans for closer cooperation on issues such as counternarcotics and fishing, and paving the way for a rush of Chinese infrastructure investment. Lest the message be lost, Duterte later announced his country’s economic and military “separation” from the United States in a speech to business executives in Beijing, drawing applause from the Chinese crowd. “I’m declaring my separation to the United States in military and economics, and that the Philippines now is dependent to China for all time,” Duterte said. Americans are a “discourteous people,” with a “larynx not adjusted to civility,” he said, according to video shot by a Filipino journalist in attendance. “I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow,” Duterte told his Chinese hosts while suggesting he could eventually reach out to Russian President Vladi*mir Putin for talks on a three-way alliance, according to the Reuters news agency.
“There are three of us against the world — China, Philippines and Russia. It’s the only way,” Duterte added. Thursday’s scene will give Manila and Beijing something to cheer about: Duterte can return home, cash in hand, having earned some international support for a self-proclaimed “drug war” that has claimed thousands of lives. Beijing’s top brass, meanwhile, get to court a cornerstone player in the U.S. rebalance to Asia, showing neighbors that it pays handsomely to play nice with China. “This truly has milestone significance for China-Philippine relations,” Xi said. Duterte, this time more poetic than potty-mouthed, spoke of a “springtime” for Sino-Philippine ties.
Duterte: “The Philippines is now dependent to China for all time”
BEIJING — On Wednesday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said it was “time to say goodbye” to the United States.
So on Thursday, he said a cheery hello to China. In meetings that followed months of anti-U.S. rhetoric, Duterte and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, met at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, promising to move from bitter fighting to close friendship. The leaders did not reach a deal on the South China Sea, as some predicted, but did agree to bilateral talks — a striking turnaround for the Philippine side. They also signed 13 agreements, cementing plans for closer cooperation on issues such as counternarcotics and fishing, and paving the way for a rush of Chinese infrastructure investment. Lest the message be lost, Duterte later announced his country’s economic and military “separation” from the United States in a speech to business executives in Beijing, drawing applause from the Chinese crowd. “I’m declaring my separation to the United States in military and economics, and that the Philippines now is dependent to China for all time,” Duterte said. Americans are a “discourteous people,” with a “larynx not adjusted to civility,” he said, according to video shot by a Filipino journalist in attendance. “I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow,” Duterte told his Chinese hosts while suggesting he could eventually reach out to Russian President Vladi*mir Putin for talks on a three-way alliance, according to the Reuters news agency.
“There are three of us against the world — China, Philippines and Russia. It’s the only way,” Duterte added. Thursday’s scene will give Manila and Beijing something to cheer about: Duterte can return home, cash in hand, having earned some international support for a self-proclaimed “drug war” that has claimed thousands of lives. Beijing’s top brass, meanwhile, get to court a cornerstone player in the U.S. rebalance to Asia, showing neighbors that it pays handsomely to play nice with China. “This truly has milestone significance for China-Philippine relations,” Xi said. Duterte, this time more poetic than potty-mouthed, spoke of a “springtime” for Sino-Philippine ties.